Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

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.

 

A woman pushes a cart with a long, narrow tube on it, in through a large metal door.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
We take most of the sediment cores and samples, collected from the field, straight from the loading dock into a large walk-in refrigerator (about 780 square feet). There, samples are kept at the international core curation standard of 4° C plus or minus 2° C. Each core and sample must be labeled with an identifier and metadata, which follows the material through processing and analysis.
A woman wearing a lab coat lifts a long thin sediment core from a shelf.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
In the cold storage room at the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, we store cores on large racks that can hold about 4,500 full sized cores or D-tubes with split cores, up to 1.5 meters long.
A woman wearing a lab coat and rubber gloves holds a rotating handle on the wall of a rack that runs on a track.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
These track-mounted racks pack together to save space. Cranking a handle moves the aisle between racks for core access.
A woman wearing a lab coat wheels a tray, with a sediment core resting on top, out through a big metal door.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The back door of the refrigerator connects to our core and sample processing labs.
A woman, wearing a lab coat and protective equipment in a laboratory, holds a core in a device that will split the core in half.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
In the core lab, the Geotek core splitter cuts sediment cores in half lengthwise using oscillating saws and a wire cutter.

News

New Video Offers Virtual Tour of the USGS Sediment Core Lab

New Video Offers Virtual Tour of the USGS Sediment Core Lab

Searching for Evidence of Past Tsunamis in Sediment Cores

Searching for Evidence of Past Tsunamis in Sediment Cores

New evidence for a roughly 600-year-old tsunami impacting the Hawaiian Islands

New evidence for a roughly 600-year-old tsunami impacting the Hawaiian Islands

View All

Publications

Marine paleoseismic evidence for seismic and aseismic slip along the Hayward-Rodgers Creek fault system in northern San Pablo Bay

Distinguishing between seismic and aseismic fault slip in the geologic record is difficult, yet fundamental to estimating the seismic potential of faults and the likelihood of multi-fault ruptures. We integrated chirp sub-bottom imaging with targeted cross-fault coring and core analyses of sedimentary proxy data to characterize vertical deformation and slip behavior within an extensional fault ben
Authors
Janet Watt, Mary McGann, Renee K. Takesue, Thomas Lorenson
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Multi-Sensor Core Logger Laboratory

Late Holocene environmental change in Celestun Lagoon, Yucatan, Mexico

Epikarst estuary response to hydroclimate change remains poorly understood, despite the well-studied link between climate and karst groundwater aquifers. The influence of sea-level rise and coastal geomorphic change on these estuaries obscures climate signals, thus requiring careful development of paleoenvironmental histories to interpret the paleoclimate archives. We used foraminifera assemblages
Authors
Kyle Hardage, Joseph Street, Jorge A. Herrera-Silveira, Ferdinand Oberle, Adina Paytan
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Multi-Sensor Core Logger Laboratory

California deepwater investigations and groundtruthing (Cal DIG) I: Fault and shallow geohazard analysis offshore Morro Bay

The California Deepwater Investigations and Groundtruthing (Cal DIG) I project focuses on the potential seafloor hazards and impacts of alternative energy infrastructure in the outer continental shelf region offshore of south-central California. This is one of three reports covering a single study area located between Monterey and Point Conception, California in federal waters outside of the State

Authors
Maureen A. L. Walton, Charlie K Paull, Guy R. Cochrane, Jason A. Addison, Roberto Gwiazda, Daniel J. Kennedy, Eve M. Lundsten, Antoinette Gabrielle Papesh
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization
View All

Science

link
A map illustration of the seafloor off of a coastal area, that shows the features like submarine canyons and depth.

Cascadia Subduction Zone Marine Geohazards

Societal Issue: Uncertainty related to rupture extent, slip distribution, and recurrence of past subduction megathrust earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest (northern CA, OR, WA, and southern BC) leads to ambiguity in earthquake and tsunami hazard assessments and hinders our ability to prepare for future events.
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, 3-D CT Core Imaging Laboratory, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Multi-Sensor Core Logger Laboratory, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization, Subduction Zone Science
link

Cascadia Subduction Zone Marine Geohazards

Societal Issue: Uncertainty related to rupture extent, slip distribution, and recurrence of past subduction megathrust earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest (northern CA, OR, WA, and southern BC) leads to ambiguity in earthquake and tsunami hazard assessments and hinders our ability to prepare for future events.
Learn More
link
Map of offshore southern California showing the contours of the seafloor, with labels pointing to circles showing landslides.

Hazards: EXPRESS

Marine geohazards including earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis lie offshore of densely populated areas of California, Oregon, and Washington. One goal of EXPRESS is to improve assessments of these hazards.
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, 3-D CT Core Imaging Laboratory, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Multi-Sensor Core Logger Laboratory, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization
link

Hazards: EXPRESS

Marine geohazards including earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis lie offshore of densely populated areas of California, Oregon, and Washington. One goal of EXPRESS is to improve assessments of these hazards.
Learn More
link
A computed-generated image showing the Queen Charlotte Fault and nearshore area, using bathymetry and lidar data

Coastal and Marine Geohazards of the U.S. West Coast and Alaska

Coastal and marine geohazards are sudden and extreme events beneath the ocean that threaten coastal populations. These underwater hazards include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and tsunamis. The tectonically active west coast of the Americas is prone to such hazards, as it lies along the boundaries of major tectonic plates that make up the Earth's crust—the North American, Caribbean...
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, 3-D CT Core Imaging Laboratory, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Big Sur Landslides, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization, Subduction Zone Science
link

Coastal and Marine Geohazards of the U.S. West Coast and Alaska

Coastal and marine geohazards are sudden and extreme events beneath the ocean that threaten coastal populations. These underwater hazards include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and tsunamis. The tectonically active west coast of the Americas is prone to such hazards, as it lies along the boundaries of major tectonic plates that make up the Earth's crust—the North American, Caribbean...
Learn More
View All
Was this page helpful?