Virtual Marine Sediment Core Collection

This Google Earth Virtual Marine Sediment Core Collection shows core locations and how their location influenced their sediment type. Each exemplar core has a information on the sediment type, with links to images, core descriptions, maps, geologic interpretations, and other data. The virtual core collection provides comprehensive, efficient access to information condensed down to essentials for learning. An interactive animation shows core photos emerging from the ocean floor, illustrating where the sediment cores originate. This is an educational resource for those wanting interactive teaching options for basic Earth and ocean science. It can be used alone or with another Google Earth resources on marine sediments: a virtual map of >2500 marine sites showing the distribution of primary seafloor sediment types (https://serc.carleton.edu/geode/activities/217455.html).

Download the Virtual_Core_Collection_06-08-19.kmz (KMZ File 3.7MB Jul17 19)

×

Provenance: GEODE, Kristen St. John
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

×

Provenance: GEODE. Kristen St. John
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

While this virtual core collection makes learning about ocean sediment more accessible, educators can also request real ocean sediment samples for use in teaching. This is done using the same system that scientists use to request research samples: http://iodp.tamu.edu/curation/samples.html. Click on the green Sample and Data Request button. This will take you to a new link where you can set up an account and submit your request. Requests can be made for samples (e.g, 10 to 20 cc) that represent each of the primary sediment types in the ocean from these (or similar) cores. In addition representative smear slides (i.e., like thin sections but of unconsolidated sediment instead of rock) can be requested.For tips on making sample requests for education purposes contact Kristen St. John (stjohnke@jmu.edu). See also: https://iodp.tamu.edu/curation/gcr/index.html.

References and Acknowledgements: Data used in this exercise comes from the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP, http://www-odp.tamu.edu/), the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). The IODP Google Earth Bore Hole Map was used as a starting point for data access, and a model for organizing access to scientific reports and data. The resource was modeled after a new virtual marine sediment map of the ocean floor https://serc.carleton.edu/geode/activities/217455.html that was developed as part of the GEODE project. Information on core sites and lithologies were derived from the scientific reports associated with each research expedition. A cross section generator program was adapted to use to elevate photos of cores rising up from the seafloor. Development of this exercise was supported by the NSF-funded GEODE project.