This proposal seeks support to develop a curation facility for land-based sediment cores at the Limnological Research Center (LRC), UofMN, in close collaboration with the Large Lakes Observatory (LLO) UofMN-Duluth. Unlike the long-established successful curation of marine cores, no curation is currently available for terrestrial material. This facility will serve the paleorecords community by providing access to consistent management including logging/sampling systems, data management, and archiving. The strategy for the proposed curation facility is long-term, keeping pace with projected expanding needs. Phase I calls for construction of a prefabricated cold room for 17,500 core sections and establishment of organizational infrastructure, database, and protocols. As the International Continental Drilling Programme becomes a reality bringing increased needs for core documentation and archiving, Phase II will be implemented, including evaluation of the facility, response to drilling initiatives, and likely expansion to 100,000+ capacity. The facility will be operated as a cooperative agreement with NSF using an appointed External Advisory Group (EAG) reflecting the wide spectrum of Earth System History (ESH) interests.
