Curation of National Antarctic Collections

Florida State University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports continued operation of the Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility (AMGRF) at Florida State University. AMGRF, the largest repository of Southern Ocean piston cores in the world, has been conducting marine geological research and receiving, describing, and archiving sediment cores for over 30 years. The AMGRF provides numerous services to the Antarctic and marine geology and geophysics community. This award provides operating funds not only to continue in these efforts but also to provide the means to make significant improvements in (1) Facility services and equipment for the benefit of the Antarctic marine geology community and (2) education and outreach programs to students and the general public. Items 1-4 below speak to the Intellectual Merits of this proposal and Item 5 discusses the Broader Impacts of AMGRF activities. The services and programs provided by the Facility include: (1) Technical Service - The Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility offers a variety of services to Principal Investigators, most at no direct cost to the user. These services including standard core processing (e.g., core splitting, Multi-sensor track analyses, core photography, whole-core x-rays, etc), core description publications (macroscopic and microscopic), and core sampling. In addition, Facility personnel provide curatorial support services to field-based projects upon request (e.g., the Cape Roberts Project, SHALDRIL, ANDRILL). (2) Core Curation - The AMGRF archives and curates more than 20,000 meters of cored sediment (over 6500 cores) and over 5000 kg of dredge, trawl, and grab samples collected by United States Antarctic Program (USAP) vessels. The Facility also archives and curates nearly 3000 meters of rotary-cored material from programs such as the Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP), Cenozoic Investigations of the Ross Sea (CIROS), and the Cape Roberts Project (CRP). (3) Core and Sample Database - The AMGRF maintains a core and sample database that can be accessed through the Facility's World Wide Web server. At present, this searchable database contains basic information (lat, long, water depth, etc.) about all the cores stored at the facility, as well as information about samples taken from cores (core, interval, size, investigator, etc.) between 1964 to present. (4) Research Capabilities - The analytical equipment at the Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility serves both the research needs of both the AMGRF personnel (for generation of detailed core descriptions) and the Principal Investigators involved with the United States Antarctic Program. This equipment provides the users of the Facility with the necessary tools to rapidly and objectively analyze the piston cores and drill cores that are sent to the AMGRF each year. (5) Education and Outreach - As part of the Facility Education and Outreach program, Facility Personnel routinely provide (1) tours and lectures for students (K-20) and the general public; (2) Laboratory sessions for undergraduate Geology and Oceanography survey courses; (3) Training for graduate and undergraduate students; (4) and workshops and short courses for investigators. In summary, this award supports the processing and archiving of deep-sea sediment cores from U.S. Antarctic Program projects that are active now and that will be active in the next five years in the Southern Ocean. It also addresses the needs of FSU students and visiting students that need exposure to and training in state-of-the-art equipment for conducting first-class research in marine geology.