RENEWAL OF CURATION OF ODP LEGS 150X AND 174AX CORES: THE RUTGERS CORE REPOSITORY

Continuous drill cores from scientific ocean drilling provide an unparalleled insight into the Earth. The Rutgers Core Repository archives cores obtained during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Legs 150X and 174AX, as well as site survey cores from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expeditions 303/306 and the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 363. Drilling completed during Legs 150X and 174AX has provided an exceptionally well-documented series of continuous cores from the coastal plain, which have been the basis for over 100 scientific publications and continue to contribute insights into global sea-level change, sequence stratigraphy, basin tectonics and sedimentation, climate change, and major events in Earth History. During the time period that the Rutgers Core Repository has received NSF funding for curation of ODP and IODP legs, it was designated an official IODP Repository; acquired additional space and renovated ? purchasing two refrigerated core storage vans and building climate controlled dedicated core splitting and description laboratories; developed a website which includes links to metadata, datasets, and other repositories for ODP legs; developed exhibits for the Connecticut Science Center and the Rutgers Geology Museum, distributed over 4,000 samples from ODP and IODP cores, and provided many outreach activities for both the scientific community and the community at large.