Site U1448 is located at 1091 mbsl, ~44 km offshore Little Andaman Island on a rise separating north-south–oriented basins associated with the Eastern margin and Diligent fault zones. Unlike IODP Site U1447, the elevated location of Site U1448 helps shield the site from turbidite deposition. The objective at this site is to recover Miocene to Holocene sediments from multiple holes in order to reconstruct changes in surface water salinity and runoff associated with summer monsoon rainfall at tectonic to suborbital timescales. Sites U1448 and U1447 constitute the middle (10°N) portion of a meridional salinity transect that includes sites on the northeast Indian margin (19°N) and is anchored by IODP Site U1443 at 5°N.