This award funds ongoing curatorial activities at the Marine Geological Samples Laboratory (MGSL) of the Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO), University of Rhode Island. This facility serves as the central repository for marine geological samples collected by faculty, staff, and students of the GSO. The present collection consists of 1805 deep sea cores, 715 dredge samples, and 767 coastal and deep sea grab samples. Activities include curation of new core and dredge rock samples, further description of existing samples, enhancement of the MGSL website, submittal of sample information to the NGDC curators' database, routine logging for new core acquisitions, and the registering of all repository samples with the System for Earth Sample Registration (SESAR). The repository is involved in a variety of education and outreach activities, including laboratory tours, sample loans, and hands-on exercises for K-12 students.
