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Lab technicians create written descriptions of sediment cores, referencing Munsell chart colors and standard phrases.

Sediment cores may be subsampled for further processing and analysis in other labs, like the Sediment Lab which is across the hall from the Core Lab.

The first stop for many sediment cores is the Geotek MSCL or multi-sensor core logger. The logger automatically measures P-wave velocity, magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, and gamma density at intervals from 1 millimeter to 1 centimeter along cores up to 1.5 meters long.

This is the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center's Sediment Prep Lab, where sediment samples and core subsamples are prepared for analyses.

Our fume hood lab allows for sample preparation in safe conditions.

In the core lab, the Geotek core splitter cuts sediment cores in half lengthwise using oscillating saws and a wire cutter.

We spin down a sample of sediment that's mixed with distilled water in a centrifuge. This separates the sediment from the water at the bottom of the sample bottle, and we pour off most of the water. This process removes dissolved salts.

For some projects, scientists want to calculate sediment settling velocity and need to measure particle size using gravity. We use custom-built settling tubes filled with water – three at 2 meters tall (like the one shown here) and one 3 meters tall.

In the carbon analysis laboratory, these three instruments (the UIC CM250) automatically analyze the total carbon, total organic carbon, and total inorganic carbon content of multiple dried sediment samples. 

This Dionex ASE 350 accelerated solvent extractor automatically extracts hydrocarbons for further analysis. We also have a Zymark TurboVap II for sample preparation (not shown).

The Micromeritics Sedigraph III uses X-rays to automatically analyze settling times for sediment sizes between 300 microns and 0.1 microns (2 phi to 13 phi).

The refrigerated sample repository of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, CA includes easily accessible shelving space which can store thousands of samples.

University of Washington's research vessel R/V Barnes is loaded with the USGS multichannel seismic system components GeoEel, Chirp, and boom plates.

High-resolution (10-meter per pixel) digital elevation model (DEM) of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, using both bathymetry and topography data relative to current modern datum of North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). This DEM is the result of collaborative efforts of the U.S.

Exposed bedrock on the beach during very low (negative) tide at Isla Vista, California.

Exposed bedrock on the beach, below the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Installing large boulders as rip rap to armor the shore against further erosion at Goleta Beach in Southern California. The tide is very low (negative).

Exposed bedrock on the beach during very low (negative) tide at Isla Vista, California

Bedrock exposed at low tide along the beach at Isla Vista, California

Beach loss and armoring at Goleta Beach, very low (negative) tide

USGS oceanographer Dan Hoover uses a GPS-equipped backpack to measure sand elevations near the mouth of the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz, California, January 12, 2017. Surveys like this make long-term studies of coastal change possible.