Renewal of Curation of ODP Legs 150X and 174AX cores: The Rutgers Core Repository

BRIEF PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The PIs request continued partial support for the curation, outreach, and data management activities of the Rutgers Core Repository, which archives cores obtained by Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Legs 150X and 174AX and Expeditions 303/306 site survey cores. The onshore legs obtained 4.2 km of core from 14 sites drilled onshore in the New Jersey (NJ) and Delaware coastal plains as a coordinated effort with Legs 150 (NJ slope), 174A (NJ slope and outer shelf), and the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 313 drilling on the NJ shelf. Drilling by Legs 150X and 174AX has provided an exceptionally well-documented series of continuous cores from the coastal plain drilled in collaboration with the NSF, ODP, ICDP (International Continental Drilling Program), USGS, DOSECC (Drilling, Observation, and Sampling of the Earth?s Continental Crust), and the state geological surveys of New Jersey and Delaware. These cores continue to provide insights into global sea-level change, sequence stratigraphy, basin tectonics and sedimentation, climate change, and major events in Earth History (e.g., Eocene-Oligocene Transition (EOT), Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg), and Cenomanian/Turonian (C/T) boundaries). Rutgers University is providing long-term storage space materials support for archiving these cores in the newly renovated,14,000 sq ft Rutgers Core Repository. NSF funded the repository for a five year period (2006-2011) during which they: 1) were designated an official IODP repository; 2) acquired 5,000 sq ft in additional space, obtained $1.2M in renovation funds from Rutgers to renovate 14,000 sq ft of Repository space, bought a new refrigerated core storage van, and built climate-controlled dedicated core splitting and description laboratories; 3) developed a website that includes links to metadata, datasets, and other repositories for ODP Leg 150X and 174AX plus other onshore cores drilled in the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure, and the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains; 4) developed exhibits for the new Connecticut Science Center and the Rutgers Geology Museum; 5) distributed over 4,000 samples from Legs 150X and Leg 174AX (2006-2011), and over 20,000 samples from KN166-14 cruise that collected Expedition 303/306 site survey cores; 6) gave outreach talks on Leg 150X/174AX cores at over 30 universities, over 15 public forums, and numerous international meetings; 7) provided a core exhibit as part of the DOSECC booth at GSA and AGU annual meetings; and 8) drilled the Wilson Lake Hole B corehole in 2011 that will provide international access to PETM and K/Pg sections as part of Leg 174AX. The PIs request three years of funding for partial support of a Curator and partial funds to continue and enhance these activities. The proposal will allow the PIs to promulgate information on these cores to the national and international scientific communities and to encourage the continued use of these cores for cutting-edge scientific research. Broader Impact: The Rutgers Core Repository has been very successful in providing outreach to K-12 schools and the public through the Rutgers Geology Museum and the Connecticut Science Center and over 18 public/governmental presentations since 2006 on sea-level change and the K/Pg boundary. The cores figure prominently in the Rutgers University curriculum where there are used in numerous undergraduate and graduate courses. We engage graduate and undergraduate students in drilling and archiving the cores and drilled Wilson Lake in 2011 using students to staff all aspects of drilling (including drillers assistants), description, and archiving. We serve the international scientific community as an IODP repository.