This award funds ongoing curatorial activities at the Marine Geology Laboratory at the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University (OSU/COAS). The repository's mission is to archive and distribute geological samples, predominantly sediment cores, rocks, nodules and sediment trap samples, for scientific research and education. It was established in 1972 and since that time 14,870 meters of sediment samples, 10,185 rock samples, 2,200 deep-sea manganese nodules, 1,597 sediment trap samples, 693 plankton tow samples, and other materials have been archived and described with continuous NSF funding. In the past three years, the collection of sediment cores has grown by over 550 m and more than 34,488 samples were distributed to scientists, educators, and museums throughout the United States and around the world. Funding is requested to support ongoing operation and maintenance, and to work toward the long-range vision of the new repository management team. In addition to serving the marine geoscience community, the repository is involved in a variety of education and outreach activities for students and the general public.
The Oregon State University-Marine Geology Repository (OSU-MGR) is a NSF-supported community facility with a mission to archive and distribute geological samples for scientific research and education. At present, the OSU-MGR archives ~ 6,100 sediment cores totaling more than 16 km, ~ 10,000 rock samples from 550 dredges, ~2,200 deep-sea manganese nodules, ~1,600 sediment trap samples, ~700 plankton tow samples, and other materials, including a rapidly growing lake sediment collection and continental drill cores. The collection continues to grow -- advertised on the National Geophysical Data Center Website (www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geosamples/) -- and sample requests remain high. Looking to the future, we are improving our digital presence -- a new website was launched in 2012 (http://core-repository.coas.oregonstate.edu) and are routinely providing repository users with previously unavailable physical properties data and access to other high-end data. Over the long 40-year history of the OSU-MGR, the mission has remained the same, to archive geological samples using best practices (continuous refrigeration for soft sediment cores) and to distribute samples upon request (usually within two weeks after approval) for scientific research and education. Investigators are asked to provide reprints of any publications resulting from the study of samples provided by the OSU-MGR, and to acknowledge the repository in their papers. Since 2010, > 40 such publications appeared in the scientific literature or as graduate student theses. ~ 22,000 samples were distributed to 87 investigators at 53 institutions in 13 countries of which 29 were either students or post-docs. Additionally, OSU-MGR hosts numerous tours for local k-12 schools, runs tours and presentations for the general public, sets up exhibits at events such as the Corvallis’s da Vinci Days festival, hosts film crews, provides materials and facilities for undergraduate and graduate courses at OSU and Willamette University, and hosts research experience for undergraduates (REU) students during summer research internship programs.
