Briefly

The Lamont Repository - data past and present

Overview of 30th Anniversary Meeting of Curators

Report of important presentation at the meeting

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Deep-Sea Sample Repository

58 years of coring the ocean floor

Locations of cores in the Lamont collection. Each dot on the map represents where a core was taken and archived in the Lamont Repository. Some of the cores have been so heavily sampled that only "residuals" of sediment remain, or data resulting from work on the cores.

A brief history

Lamont’s first Core Repository was the dining room of the elegant Lamont mansion.

All cores were stored dry in the LDEO exclusive 8’ trays, dining room temperature.

Overflow was “temporarily” moved to the ground level of the Lamont Estate Carriage House. The arrangement became permanent, and the garage became Lamont’s first official Core Repository.

The present-day Core Laboratory housing the Core Repository.

Repository Facilities

Analog data is stored in nearly 1,000 ring binders dating back to 1949.

The Repository facilities other than archive storage consist of a large laboratory, office and core library, physical properties lab, 2 technical offices, cutting/sampling room, X-radiography room, storage room, and core splitting/photography area.

Archival Services

The sediment is cut through using piano wire.

Cores are split in half lengthwise.

Cores are photographed with a Fuji digital camera. Images stored as tiff for archive and jpeg for web. Hard copy printed for Core Logs.

Thanks to The NOAA Climate Data Thanks to The NOAA Climate Data Modernization Program (CDMP) and NGDC, Modernization Program (CDMP) and NGDC, all LDEO analog photos have been digitized all LDEO analog photos have been digitized and are available onand are available on--line.line.

Photography in digital colorPhotography in digital color

Cores are megascopically described.

Sampling is done in the Repository for non-LDEO researchers.

Non-archival services - Physical Properties Lab

Sedigraph/Grain-size Analysis

X-radiography

Coulometer

Multi-Sensor Core Logger

Pyncnometer

Storage of dry cores

Dry storage trays: galvanized steel, 2.5” wide, 8 feet long. Racks are 9 ft tall, each holds 704 trays.

Facilities

Refrigerated storage of wet cores

Wet tray storage: 5 foot long, mostly 4.5” wide D-tubes. Racks are custom built, 10 ft tall. Each holds 296 trays.

There are various widths and lengths of cores requiring many different storage systems.

Storage of dredges

Earlier dredges are stored in wooden crates placed on wooden shelves.

Later dredges are in reinforced plastic bins on heavy steel shelving.

Residuals storage

Unused or returned processed sample material is stored in hundreds of drawers installed wherever we can squeeze them in! There are close to 200,000 of these samples filed, most catalogued and on the web. It’s an ongoing project.

From the beginning cores were split, photographed and described. They were worked on in that dining room after 1949. AT150-1 from Ewing’s epiphanic MAR cruise, 1947. Many of Ewings first cores were taken off the WHOI ship Atlantis.

Megascopic Description and photo of Core VM2-1 taken in 1953.

Core archived in 2003: LWB1-12

The original concept is still in place. Continuity is the LDEO long suit.

Recording of sampling has been continuous.

The Lamont Sample History Database is available on-line for samples taken as early as 1960. More added as time is available.

Data Management

58 years of core data digitizedMetadata sent to NGDC, available on webMetadata including Megascopic Descriptions available on Lamont WebDigitized photos on NGDC Metadata being entered into System for Earth Sample Registration(SESAR)Data being entered into SedDBCore Sample History being entered on LDEO WebResults of work (publications) on sample material available on Web via GeoMapApp

For the Future

Plan to use the Harvard Online Curation System, FY 2008-2009, to replace the various databases currently used by the Repository.

Parse existing textural information of digitized megascopic descriptions in a sophisticated and intelligent way in order to bring the collection into a relatively uniformity, fix linguistic ambiguities, for example.

Location of cores in the Location of cores in the Repository that have been cited in Repository that have been cited in journal and book publications, journal and book publications, visualized in the visualized in the GeoMapAppGeoMapApp browser (browser (www.geomapapp.orgwww.geomapapp.org). ). This figure shows 9,665 citations This figure shows 9,665 citations to individual cores between 1953 to individual cores between 1953 and 1999. The dot color in the and 1999. The dot color in the map is coded to year of map is coded to year of publication. publication.

Publications database

Thirtieth Anniversary Meeting

Curators of Marine & Lacustrine Geological Samples

September 24-26, 2007 Aspen Lodge

Estes Park, Colorado

Report on the

Core Group of U.S. Repositories (OCE funded):

Steven CareyUniversity of Rhode Island

Bobbi ConardOregon State University

Rusty LottiLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Richard NorrisScripps Institution of Oceanography

Ellen RoosenWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Convened by: Carla MooreNOAA NGDC, Boulder, CO

Welcoming address: Chris FoxDirector, NOAA NGDC & WDC for MG&G

NSF Representative: Howard SperoUS NSF, OCE

Attending

Core Group of U.S. Repositories (OCE funded):

Steven CareyUniversity of Rhode Island

Bobbi ConardOregon State University

Rusty LottiLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Richard NorrisScripps Institution of Oceanography

Ellen RoosenWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution

U.S. Repositories (Various funding)

Todd Hinkley (guest speaker)USGS/National Ice Core LaboratoryDenver, CO

Anders NorenNational Lacustrine Core RepositoryUniversity of Minnesota

John Rhoades, Jeannine HoneyUS Geological Survey Central Region Lakewood, CO

Phil RumfordIntegrated Ocean Drilling ProgramCollege Station, TX

Mike TorresanUS Geological SurveyMenlo Park, CA

Sherwood WiseAntarctic Marine Geology Research FacilityFlorida State University

Convened by: Carla MooreNOAA NGDC, Boulder, CO

Welcoming address: Chris FoxDirector, NOAA NGDC & WDC for MG&G

NSF Representative: Howard SperoUS NSF, OCE

Attending

Core Group of U.S. Repositories (OCE funded):

Steven CareyUniversity of Rhode Island

Bobbi ConardOregon State University

Rusty LottiLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Richard NorrisScripps Institution of Oceanography

Ellen RoosenWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution

U.S. Repositories (Various funding)

Todd Hinkley (guest speaker)USGS/National Ice Core LaboratoryDenver, CO

Anders NorenNational Lacustrine Core RepositoryUniversity of Minnesota

John Rhoades, Jeannine HoneyUS Geological Survey Central Region Lakewood, CO

Phil RumfordIntegrated Ocean Drilling ProgramCollege Station, TX

Mike TorresanUS Geological SurveyMenlo Park, CA

Sherwood WiseAntarctic Marine Geology Research FacilityFlorida State University

Convened by: Carla MooreNOAA NGDC, Boulder, CO

Welcoming address: Chris FoxDirector, NOAA NGDC & WDC for MG&G

NSF Representative: Howard SperoUS NSF, OCE

Foreign Repositories Represented

Eddie ResiakGeoscience Australia

Guy RothwellBritish Ocean Sediment Core Research FacilitySouthampton Oceanography Centre, United Kingdom

Ann TherriaultGeological Survey of CanadaBedford Institute of Oceanography

Attending

Core Group of U.S. Repositories (OCE funded):

Steven CareyUniversity of Rhode Island

Bobbi ConardOregon State University

Rusty LottiLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Richard NorrisScripps Institution of Oceanography

Ellen RoosenWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution

U.S. Repositories (Various funding)

Todd Hinkley (guest speaker)USGS/National Ice Core LaboratoryDenver, CO

Anders NorenNational Lacustrine Core RepositoryUniversity of Minnesota

John Rhoades, Jeannine HoneyUS Geological Survey Central Region Lakewood, CO

Phil RumfordIntegrated Ocean Drilling ProgramCollege Station, TX

Mike TorresanUS Geological SurveyMenlo Park, CA

Sherwood WiseAntarctic Marine Geology Research FacilityFlorida State University

Convened by: Carla MooreNOAA NGDC, Boulder, CO

Welcoming address: Chris FoxDirector, NOAA NGDC & WDC for MG&G

NSF Representative: Howard SperoUS NSF, OCE

Database Representatives

Bob Arko (guest speaker)Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)

Chris Jenkins (guest speaker)Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)University of Colorado at Boulder

John LaRocque (guest)NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)Boulder, CO 80305

Kelly Stroker (guest)NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)Boulder, CO 80305

Sri Vinayagamoorthy (guest speaker)(CIESIN)Palisades, NY 10964

Foreign Repositories Represented

Eddie ResiakGeoscience Australia

Guy RothwellBritish Ocean Sediment Core Research FacilitySouthampton Oceanography Centre, United Kingdom

Ann TherriaultGeological Survey of CanadaBedford Institute of Oceanography

Attending

The Index to Marine & Lacustrine Geological Samples

Conceived at the first NSF-supported Curators’ meeting

in 1977 by participants from the following institutions:

FSU, HIG, LDEO, RSMAS, OSU, SIO, URI, USC,

USGS, UW, U Wisc, UT, WHOI, & NGDC

Objective of the Database:

Dissemination of standardized information on sample collections to the

scientific community

1997-2007

Thanks, Chris Fox for a great historical overview.

Initial meetings devoted to standardization of data entered in the growing index

Subsequent meetings agenda divided by:

• Continued discussion on and improvement of database

• Repository reports on rates of collection

• Distribution of samples

• Bricks and mortar issues

This Curators’ meeting was different from all others.

Our NSF representative, Howie Spero, brought information of great significance

to managers of geoscience collections.

Howie told of an impending Report

from the Government Accountability Office

GAOGAO

Accountability

• Submission of results from work on geoscience material collected will no longer be discretionary (not that it ever was).

• The GAO will want to see a system in place insuring that all results from this work will be submitted to an appropriate agency.

• Non-compliance will result in the withholding of future funding from a P.I. until compliance is met.

Why this is significant to the Repositories.

Why this is significant to the Repositories.

We are at the Root of the Food ChainRoot of the Food Chain.

Why this is significant to the Repositories.

We archive the collections.

We dispense and record samples taken from the material.

We are at the Root of the Food ChainRoot of the Food Chain.

Discussion of this significance took on a life of its own at the meeting. We discussed our different methods of record keeping - analog vs electronic. As we focused on the “Food Chain” and the mind-boggling amount of data to track, and when and where, it became more obvious that the our contribution to this compliance can not be accomplished without substantial change.

The Food Chain

The Food Chain

Bottom - a Core

The Food Chain

Bottom - a Core

2nd Level - Each Section of Core

The Food Chain

Bottom - a Core

2nd Level - Each Section of Core3rd - Each Split (A & B) of Each Section

The Food Chain

Bottom - a Core

2nd Level - Each Section of Core3rd - Each Split (A & B) of Each Section

4th - Each Sample from Each Split (A & B)

The Food Chain

Bottom - a Core

2nd Level - Each Section of Core3rd - Each Split (A & B) of Each Section

4th - Each Sample from Each Split (A & B)

5th ? - Splits from Samples: Forams for Dating 6th ? - Splits from

Samples: Grains for Counting

A

The Food Chain

Bottom - a Core

2nd Level - Each Section of Core3rd - Each Split (A & B) of Each Section

4th - Each Sample from Each Split (A & B)

5th ? - Splits from Samples: Forams for Dating 6th ? - Splits from

Samples: Grains for Counting

A

B

Compliance will be linked to the sample distribution knowledge residing in the

curatorial facilities.

Compliance will be linked to the sample distribution knowledge residing in the

curatorial facilities.

Timely and accurate information will be crucial

Compliance will be linked to the sample distribution knowledge residing in the

curatorial facilities.

Timely and accurate information will be crucial

IGSN

(International Geoscience Sample Number)

What we plan to make this work:

What we plan to make this work:

We will have a Town Hall Meeting at Fall AGU of Curators and other essential members of the Geoscience Collection community for a pre- planning -- to discuss what we need to facilitate our role in accountability. This will encompass databases, instrumentation, and money (and where it comes from).

What we plan to make this work:

We will have a Town Hall Meeting at Fall AGU of Curators and other essential members of the Geoscience Collection community for a pre- planning -- to discuss what we need to facilitate our role in accountability. This will encompass databases, instrumentation, and money (and where it comes from).

After this session, a letter will be sent to appropriate NSF Division representatives inviting them to a meeting (at NSF) to hear our presentation.

What we plan to make this work:

We will have a Town Hall Meeting at Fall AGU of Curators and other essential members of the Geoscience Collection community for a pre- planning -- to discuss what we need to facilitate our role in accountability. This will encompass databases, instrumentation, and money (and where it comes from).

After this session, a letter will be sent to appropriate NSF Division representatives inviting them to a meeting (at NSF) to hear our presentation.

Early in the new year, we will meet at Lamont (with our critical mass of “tech heads”) to solidify our thoughts and prepare the presentation. At this time we would designate a small group to present at the meeting.

Our Goals: Recognition from NSF that:

Our Goals: Recognition from NSF that:

• the information source of geoscience material acquisition and distribution rests in the repositories.

Our Goals: Recognition from NSF that:

• the information source of geoscience material acquisition and distribution rests in the repositories.

• the repositories and all geoscience collectors use of the IGSN is the elemental route to compliance with the accountability mandate.

Our Goals: Recognition from NSF that:

• the information source of geoscience material acquisition and distribution rests in the repositories.

• the repositories and all geoscience collectors use of the IGSN is the elemental route to compliance with the accountability mandate.

• state of the art equipment and data tools to support the transfer of information to IGSN is essential necessitating more financial support for the repositories.

Our Goals: Recognition from NSF that:

• the information source of geoscience material acquisition and distribution rests in the repositories.

• the repositories and all geoscience collectors use of the IGSN is the elemental route to compliance with the accountability mandate.

• state of the art equipment and data tools to support the transfer of information to IGSN is essential necessitating more financial support for the repositories.

• both the repositories and P.I.’s will benefit by the repositories being supported by funds other than the pool set aside for research.

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you