The color variation evident in deep sea sediments has the potential to provide important information on accumulation rates of sedimentary materials. The present project will develop and test a new technique for analyzing these color variations in terms of sedimentary cycles using image analysis of deep sea cores. Color variations will be related to chemical and mineralogical changes in the cores and the results of this study will be compared to other analyses on the cores. The ultimate objective of the project is to develop a rapid technique for establishing age in cores that are dominated by consistent sedimentary cycles. The project will be undertaken by promising recent graduate who has rapidly developed her reputation in marine studies.