The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository provides space and services for processing and sampling of materials and collections. Sample photography uses a Nikon1 D90 SLR camera mounted to the ceiling directly above the layout table in the sample preparation area.
Samples Repository
Extended Continental Shelf Physical Samples
Since 2002, the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository (WHCMSC) has been supporting research by providing secure storage for geological, biological, and geochemical samples; maintaining organization and an active inventory of these sample collections; as well as by providing access to these collections for study and reuse.
Repository Facilities
Repository Facilities
The K.O. Emery Geotechnical Wing serves as the primary storage location for all geological, biological, and geochemical samples collected through USGS research, or in the permanent custody of the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center.
Collections Management
Collections Management
We provide secure storage, processing, and subsampling services to USGS staff, and researchers from government and academic institutions investigating the history, nature, and physical properties of geological, biological, and geochemical materials.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Located on picturesque Cape Cod, the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC) has been a member of the prestigious Woods Hole scientific community since the Center’s founding in 1962. From the very start, samples collected by USGS research in Woods Hole have provided invaluable insight into the nature and character of the sea floor—a region which remains to this day one of the least explored places on the Earth. Often, these samples are unique and irreplaceable, either due to the great difficuty and expense in their collection, or the changing nature of the ocean floor that make duplicating the sample impossible.
As an investment in preserving these samples for further investigations, and ensuring that the scientific legacy of USGS research will not be lost, the USGS Branch of Atlantic Marine Geology (as the WHCMSC was once known) established an agreement with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to collocate collections of USGS marine core, dredge and surface sediment sample collections within WHOI’s Core Lab repository.
D-tubes containing split cores, as well as subsamples of dredges and sediment grabs collected by USGS researchers are still housed in the WHOI repository and the cooperative agreement between the two institutions is still strong. In addition to the protected storage provided by WHOI, the WHCMSC acquired a number of outdoor climate-controlled vans to store subsamples, split and whole cores, and smaller sample collections in refrigerated, freezing, and ambient temperatures, as recommended by their purpose for research and preservation needs. These outdoor vans became collectively known as the “Freezer Farm,” and it was from this collection of units that the need to create and maintain order within the samples and storage administered by the USGS came.
The Samples Repository was officially formed in 2002 to formally catalog and organize these geologic, geochemical, and biological collections, and establish protocols for their preservation and access. Since its inception, the Repository has seen developments in collections management strategies, as well as the construction of the current storage facility, the K.O. Emery Geotechnical Wing.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Related Content
Samples Repository ceiling mounted camera system
The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository provides space and services for processing and sampling of materials and collections. Sample photography uses a Nikon1 D90 SLR camera mounted to the ceiling directly above the layout table in the sample preparation area.
Core Splitter
The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository provides space and services for processing and sampling of materials and collections.
The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository provides space and services for processing and sampling of materials and collections.
Walls and carts of cores
Core racks filled with split cores in D-tubes in the K.O. Emery Geotechnical Wing walk-in refrigerator
Core racks filled with split cores in D-tubes in the K.O. Emery Geotechnical Wing walk-in refrigerator
Sample preparation and processing area
Sample preparation and processing area in the K.O. Emery Geotechnical Wing at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA
Sample preparation and processing area in the K.O. Emery Geotechnical Wing at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA
Storage vans, referred to as the "Freezer Farm"
Storage vans, referred to as the "Freezer Farm" sit outside the Woods Hole Science Center
Storage vans, referred to as the "Freezer Farm" sit outside the Woods Hole Science Center
Related Content
Samples Repository ceiling mounted camera system
The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository provides space and services for processing and sampling of materials and collections. Sample photography uses a Nikon1 D90 SLR camera mounted to the ceiling directly above the layout table in the sample preparation area.
The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository provides space and services for processing and sampling of materials and collections. Sample photography uses a Nikon1 D90 SLR camera mounted to the ceiling directly above the layout table in the sample preparation area.
Core Splitter
The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository provides space and services for processing and sampling of materials and collections.
The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository provides space and services for processing and sampling of materials and collections.
Walls and carts of cores
Core racks filled with split cores in D-tubes in the K.O. Emery Geotechnical Wing walk-in refrigerator
Core racks filled with split cores in D-tubes in the K.O. Emery Geotechnical Wing walk-in refrigerator
Sample preparation and processing area
Sample preparation and processing area in the K.O. Emery Geotechnical Wing at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA
Sample preparation and processing area in the K.O. Emery Geotechnical Wing at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA
Storage vans, referred to as the "Freezer Farm"
Storage vans, referred to as the "Freezer Farm" sit outside the Woods Hole Science Center
Storage vans, referred to as the "Freezer Farm" sit outside the Woods Hole Science Center