Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories
Learn about the sediment core lab and refrigerated sample repositories at the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California.
We process and analyze sediment cores collected from coastal, fluvial, estuarine, lacustrine, and marine environments. We have a Geotek core splitter, shrink wrap system, and a wide assortment of sampling tools and balances for core sample preparation and analysis. We store the cores, along with other sediment samples, in a large, walk-in refrigerated room that features library-style rolling shelving for efficient storage and easy access to all cores. All samples are cataloged and cross-referenced to their field activity ID, which provides the metadata about the samples.
(Left to right) Danny Brothers (PCMSC), Peter Haeussler (USGS Alaska Science Center), Maureen Walton (PCMSC), and Jamie Conrad (PCMSC) select seafloor sediment samples from cores collected along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault. They are working in the Geological Survey of Canada laboratories in British Columbia, which has very similar facilities to ours in Santa Cruz.
Credit: Amy East, USGS
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Making a shear vane measurement on a gravity core
USGS scientist Janet Watt making a shear vane measurement on a gravity core to understand how the seafloor responds to earthquake shaking.
Capping and securing a trigger core
USGS scientists Nora Nieminski, Jenna Hill, and Brandon Nasr working to cap and secure a trigger core on deck. Trigger cores can provide important information about seafloor sediments just below the seafloor
Loving our sediment cores
USGS Mendenhall postdoc,Nora Nieminski showing some love for a trigger core recovered from the Cascadia subduction zone.
Removal of sediment-filled core liner
USGS scientists Brandon Nasr, Jenna Hill, Nora Nieminski, and Jenny McKee removing a sediment-filled core liner from the jumbo piston core barrel with the picturesque northern California coastline in the background.
Core recovery
USGS scientists Pete Dal Ferro and Jenny McKee securing a recently collected jumbo piston core (JPC) on the back deck of M/V Bold Horizon for preliminary core processing.
Examining core stratigraphy within Humboldt slough
Humboldt State University Assistant Professor Melanie Michalak (squatting) and California State Geological Survey scientist Jay Patton (standing, center) explaining core stratigraphy within Humboldt slough and evidence for past tsunami inundation. Integrating evidence of past earthquakes and tsunamis from offshore and onshore geologic evidence is key to understanding the
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Jumbo piston corer on deck of Healy in the Arctic
Jumbo piston corer on deck of Healy in the Arctic Ocean
Jumbo piston corer
Marine technicians from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Marine Facility (MarFac) guide the jumbo piston corer into position for deployment off the ship.
Rossfelder P-5 Vibracorer
USGS science crew from Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center work together to get the vibracorer coring device in position to collect sediment core samples off San Francisco, California.
Jumbo piston corer with mud from the seafloor
After recovery, the jumbo piston corer sits on the deck of research vessel Bold Horizon in its launch and recovery system. This muddy collar is removed to reveal the removable length of the core, which sits within a stiff plastic tube inside the metal tube.
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