Quaternary Research Facility

The Quaternary Research Facility specializes in recovery and analyses of soft sediment cores from freshwater systems, primarily lakes, and including peatlands and permafrost.

The lab follows best practices for intact sediment core recovery, core processing and archiving and specializes in stratigraphic studies that contribute to projects with scientists from the Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center and with colleagues from other federal agencies and academic institutions.

For inquiries, please see the capabilities and contacts tab of this webpage.

Shelves in the USGS Quaternary Lab Facility stacked with lake sediment cores — Sediment core cold storage: Split cores are stored at 38˚F in a walk in cold room in sealed storage containers. One half of every core is used and the second is kept for long-term archive storage.