Curation of National Antarctic Marine Sediment Collections

Florida State University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The proposal requests operating funds to continue supporting the Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility (AMGRF) at Florida State University, the largest repository of Southern Ocean piston cores in the world. The Facility has been receiving, describing, and archiving cores for the past 48 years, at the same time supporting extensive marine geological research. The services and programs provided by the Facility include: (a) numerous technical services to the Antarctic and Earth Science investigators to work with the stored cores and samples; (b) archiving and curating more than 21,000 m of cored sediments and more than 5,000 kg of sea bottom samples collected by the U.S. Antarctic Program vessels; (c) maintaining the core and sample database covering the period from 1944 to present that is accessible via the Facility's Web site, and (d) services and equipment for the benefit of the Antarctic marine geology research community. Continued reliance on students' involvement in the Facility operation and research provides a broader impact and firmly grounds this effort in its educational mission.