POLICY AND PROCEDURES FOR DISTRIBUTION
OF SAMPLES AND SAMPLE INFORMATION
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LAMONT-DOHERTY EARTH OBSERVATORY
DEEP-SEA SAMPLE REPOSITORY
Palisades, New York 10964
Tele: (845)365-8419 FAX: 845-365-8154
e-mail: curator@lamont.ldeo.columbia.edu
Samples from cores and dredges, descriptions of cores and dredges, digital images and other cruise information from the collection at L-DEO are provided to scientific investigators upon receipt of requests. Materials for educational purposes and museum displays may also be made available in limited quantities where requests are adequately justified. Policies and procedures governing requests, as well as the types of information available, are outlined below.
INFORMATION AVAILABLE
Computer Search. Cores can be searched and listed by geographic area (latitude and longitude), core number (Ship, Cruise, Core), geologic age of basal sediment in the core specific, or general sediment characteristics (lithology, paleontology, miner-alogy), core length, or water depth). thhis database is linked to the Sample History database. Maps can be generated on-line for VEMA and CONRAD cores through the repository web site.
Sample History: Records have been kept of nearly every sample taken from the Lamont collection. Core, interval, principal investigator, research purpose and date have been logged. This information is currently being digitized and made available on the web. The database is searcheable by investigator, purpose, core, cruise or date.
Publications: A list of publications resulting from studies on L-DEO sample material is available by computer search. Data is keyed for search by authors, core, year of publication, and to key words in the title. Contact the repository for this information.
Core and Dredge Descriptions: L-DEO data is sent routinely by this Repository to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Geophysical Data Center (NOAA-NGDC), Boulder, CO 80302 or at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/curator/curator.html. Core descriptions are on the Lamont core database; dredge descriptions can be sent via e-mail or snail mail from L-DEO (database in the works).
Core Images: All cores since 1985 are available digitally; all other images have been scanned and are available digitally. Contact the repository for this data.
High-resolution Sampling: Lamont has developed systems for high resolution sampling of wet and dry sediment cores. Our sampling tools are capable of collecting narrow intervals of sediment, avoiding known burrows. The goal is two-fold &mdash high quality data and preservation of sediment for future work.
Other Services Available: A GEOTEK Multi-sensor Core Logger is available to provide color spectra via a linescan camera, P-wave velocity, magnetic susceptibility, and gamma ray attenuation. Also available: X-radiography, grain-size analysis, total inorganic carbon, and vane shear for sediment shear strength. Please contact this office for costs. Other processes are available in other labs throughout the Lamont campus.
PROCESSING OF SAMPLE REQUESTS
Screening Committee: Sample requests are forwarded through a L-DEO screening committee for review. For core samples the committee is composed of four members; for dredge samples two members. Requests involving continuing research projects are also subject to committee approval.
Sampling: It is preferred that the staff of the Curatorial Facility do the actual sampling unless you have prior experience sampling. If you prefer to do your own sampling, we can give training and offer our assistance. Sampling tools and plastic bags for sediment are available; we do not provide vials.
Please wait for our response regarding your request before making travel plans. Also notify us upon your arrival prior to sampling. You are welcome to use the repository facilities including the library of published reports, core descriptions, core photographs, etc. Computers can be made available for e-mail, searches, or to some extent data entry pertaining to your sampling. L-DEO has a web site that gives instructions on how to get to the observatory, a map of the grounds, and information regarding hotels and restaurants. The facility is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. unless other arrangements can be made with repository staff.
Shipment of Samples: Samples are normally shipped within 2 weeks of approval by the screening committee. Please be patient with "rush" requests.
SAMPLE REQUESTS &mdash CORES
Initial Statement of Proposed Research: All non-Lamont researchers as well as visiting scientists and researchers holding Adjunct positions must submit a Sample Request (form enclosed). Each request must be accompanied by a complete and concise statement describing the study of which samples or information are needed, methods or procedures to be used, the specific problem or objective of the study, and names and addresses of collaborating investigators. If samples from the same cores have been used in other studies, be sure to indicate why you are duplicating previous work or conducting supportive studies.
Continuing Research Projects: Subsequent sample requests during the same investigation must include an additional statement that describes progress of the study and need for additional material. Such a statement is necessary even if the applicant is planning to come to L-DEO to do the additional sampling. Approval of an initial request therefore does not constitute approval for subsequent access to the core (or dredge) collection.
Sample Location and Position: Be sure to specify ship, cruise number, geographic or physiographic area, core number, and sample depth in core. Give alternative cores or sampling intervals in cores wherever possible. Surface sediment material is asked for most frequently and is always taken from the tops of trigger cores. Be advised, however, that both trigger and piston core tops are a particularly finite and valuable source of material, and requests for such samples are especially scrutinized. Many of our older trigger cores are no longer available for additional sampling.
Number of Samples: Our policy is to not send large numbers of samples at the beginning of an investigation. Initial requests should be considered as a need for material to first determine if more samples will be required later; these will be supplied if necessary. Do not, for example, initially ask for "samples at 5 cm intervals" from a number of cores, unless you can justify why such close sampling is necessary.
Size of Samples: Please indicate the minimum sample size or volume necessary. In general, we do not supply samples larger than about 5 cc (about 8-12 grams depending upon sediment type, or an approximately 0.5 cm thick quarter section of split core); larger sample volumes must be justified. Samples from trigger cores and tops of piston cores are restricted to 1 cc (2 gr) volumes. Wider diameter trigger cores are now being obtained and this restriction may be lessened in the future except for samples from the tops of these cores. Larger sample volumes may also be available from box cores.
Bulk Samples: We have established a collection of flow-in material (disturbed portions of piston cores) that is available where large volumes of sediment are needed for specific research projects (e.g.: flume studies) or instrument calibration.
Teaching and Museum Collections: Most samples to be used for educational purposes will be taken from flow-in. Smaller samples for displays are available but within the constraints of our priorities to scientific research.
Samples Requiring Special Consideration: Some cores, having been heavily sampled in the past, no longer have material available for sampling, or are in critically short supply. Requests for these cores will be most closely scrutinized by committee. The majority of the trigger cores fall in this category only as the issuance of core top material.
Please notethat all core samples from cruises prior to 1968 (VEMA 1-25; CONRAD 1-12) were temporarily stored in galvanized tubes &mdash all of this material is seriously contaminated for heavy-metal geochemical studies. Additional contamination may be present for cruises through VEMA 32 and CONRAD 17 from storage in galvanized trays. Also note that all VEMA cores and all CONRAD cores taken prior to cruise 24 are stored dry. All cores taken since 1985 are stored wet in D-tubes.
SAMPLE REQUESTS &mdash DREDGES
Policies and procedures for dredge sample requests are the same as those outlined above except pertaining to size of sample. This necessarily is contingent upon amount of material acquired in the dredge haul. Materials for educational and museum collections are available, including manganese nodules &mdash please do not ask for large numbers of such samples unless you can provide a clear justification for their need.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF PERSONS RECEIVING SAMPLES
Citation: We require that you acknowledge the Lamont-Doherty Deep-Sea Sample Repository and the appropriate grants in all publications resulting from use of our samples (e.g.: Sample material used in this project provided by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Deep-Sea Sample Repository. Support for the collection and curating facilities of the core collection is provided by the National Science Foundation through Grant OCE00-02380 and the Office of Naval Research through Grant N00014-02-1-0073). Contact the Repository for updates on current grant citation. Please also use our alpha-numeric sample identifications in published reports, or provide a clear correspondence between another system and our system.
Additional Use of Samples: If any work is to be done on samples that is in addition to, or different than, that stated on the original request, we must first be notified. Recipients of samples must not allow research projects that differ substantially from projects originally proposed in sample requests to be undertaken by themselves or others without first obtaining approval from the Curator.
Copies of Published Reports: One copy of all published reports, reprints, or data where L-DEO samples have been used should be sent to the Curatorial Office (address below) for inclusion in the Repository library and in the computer listing of publications. This is necessary to justify any future requests by an investigator for samples to be used in a new research project.
Return of Unused Samples: Materials issued by this repository are considered on loan. We therefore request unused sample material and residues be returned. We maintain an extensive file of these samples which are used for filling other sample requests (there are over 100,000 such samples on file). Paleomagnetic plugs must also be returned with a description of laboratory techniques applied to the plugs (e.g., thermal demagnetization, etc.).
For further information, write or e-mail:
Rusty Lotti Bond, Curator
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Deep-Sea Sample Repository
Palisades, New York 10964
For more information, contact Rusty Lotti Bond
(curator@ldeo.columbia.edu). Comments are welcomed. Last update of this page was February 17, 2003.
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