Geoscience Data and Collections
NATIONAL RESOURCES IN PERIL
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C. www.nap.edu
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was jointly sponsored by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation, American Geological Institute, Department of Energy–Fossil Energy (DE-AP75-00SW48036), Department of Energy–Yucca Mountain (DE-FG09-97NV12056), Geological Society of America, National Science Foundation (EAR-0071061), Paleontological Society (00-22-US-3548), Petrotechnical Open Software Corporation, Schlumberger, Ltd, Smithsonian Institution, and U.S. Geological Survey (00HQAG0145). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.
International Standard Book Number: 0-309-08341-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2002106850
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Front cover: Geoscience data and collections examples and storage facilities. Background left: Flexible-space shelving at Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin. SOURCE: David Stephens, BEG, University of Texas at Austin. Background right top: Inside the National Ice Core Laboratory, at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, Colorado. SOURCE: Geoffrey Hargreaves, NICL. Background right bottom: Interior of the Ocean Drilling Program’s Gulf Coast Repository (GCR) at Texas A&M University in College Station. SOURCE: Ocean Drilling Program. Foreground left to right: Fossil fish and trilobite. SOURCE: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company; Foraminifera microfossils. SOURCE: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company; Rock and mineral specimens. SOURCE: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company; and Tapes containing data from boreholes. SOURCE: Phillipe Theys, Schlumberger, Ltd., Sugarland, Texas.
Backcover: Background top: Inside the National Ice Core Laboratory, at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, Colorado. SOURCE: Geoffrey Hargreaves, NICL. Background bottom: Interior of the Ocean Drilling Program’s Gulf Coast Repository (GCR) at Texas A&M University in College Station. SOURCE: Ocean Drilling Program. Foreground: Fossil fish and trilobite. SOURCE: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company.
Cover designed by Van Nguyen
Copyright 2002 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
COMMITTEE ON THE PRESERVATION OF GEOSCIENCE DATA AND COLLECTIONS
CHRISTOPHER G. MAPLES, Chair,
Indiana University, Bloomington
WARREN D. ALLMON,
Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York
KEVIN T. BIDDLE,
Exxon Mobil Corporation, Irving, Texas
DONALD D. CLARKE,
Department of Oil Properties, City of Long Beach, California
BETH DRIVER,
National Imagery and Mapping Agency, Reston, Virginia
THOMAS R. JANECEK,
Florida State University, Tallahassee
LINDA R. MUSSER,
Pennsylvania State University, University Park
ROBERT W. SCHAFER,
Mineral Exploration and Business Development Consultant, Salt Lake City, Utah
ROBERT M. SNEIDER,
Robert M. Sneider Exploration, Inc., Houston, Texas
JOHN C. STEINMETZ,
Indiana Geological Survey, Bloomington
SALLY ZINKE (until 8/2001),
Ultra Petroleum, Inc., Englewood, Colorado
NRC Staff
PAUL CUTLER, Program Officer
MONICA LIPSCOMB, Research Assistant
TERESIA WILMORE, Project Assistant
COMMITTEE ON EARTH RESOURCES
SUSAN M. LANDON, Chair,
Thomasson Partner Associates, Denver, Colorado
JAMES C. COBB,
Kentucky Geological Survey, Lexington
VICKI J. COWART,
Colorado Geological Survey, Denver
MURRAY W. HITZMAN,
Colorado School of Mines, Golden
JAMES M. McELFISH, JR.,
Environmental Law Institute, Washington, D.C.
JOHN MURPHY,
University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
DIANNE R. NIELSON,
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Salt Lake City
THOMAS J. O’NEIL,
Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio
DONALD PAUL,
ChevronTexaco, San Francisco, California
RUSSELL STANDS-OVER-BULL,
Arrow Creek Resources, Pryor, Montana
R. BRUCE TIPPIN,
North Carolina State University, Asheville
MILTON H. WARD,
Ward Resources, Inc., Tucson, Arizona
LAWRENCE P. WILDING,
Texas A&M University, College Station
PHILLIP MICHAEL WRIGHT,
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho Falls
NRC Staff
TAMARA L. DICKINSON, Senior Program Officer
KERI H. MOORE, Staff Officer
KAREN L. IMHOF, Senior Project Assistant
BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
RAYMOND JEANLOZ, Chair,
University of California, Berkeley
JILL BANFIELD,
University of California, Berkeley
STEVEN R. BOHLEN,
Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Washington, D.C.
VICKI J. COWART,
Colorado Geological Survey, Denver
DAVID L. DILCHER,
University of Florida, Gainesville
ADAM M. DZIEWONSKI,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
WILLIAM L. GRAF,
University of South Carolina, Columbia
RHEA GRAHAM,
New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, Albuquerque
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
DIANNE R. NIELSON,
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Salt Lake City
MARK SCHAEFER,
NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia
BILLIE L. TURNER, II,
Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
THOMAS J. WILBANKS,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
NRC Staff
ANTHONY R. DE SOUZA, Director
TAMARA L. DICKINSON, Senior Program Officer
DAVID A. FEARY, Senior Program Officer
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer
PAUL M. CUTLER, Program Officer
LISA M. VANDEMARK, Program Officer
KRISTEN L. KRAPF, Staff Officer
KERI H. MOORE, Staff Officer
YVONNE P. FORSBERGH, Research Assistant
MONICA R. LIPSCOMB, Research Assistant
EILEEN McTAGUE, Reseach Assistant
VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative Associate
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Administrative Associate
RADHIKA CHARI, Senior Project Assistant
KAREN L. IMHOF, Senior Project Assistant
SHANNON L. RUDDY, Senior Project Assistant
TERESIA K. WILMORE, Project Assistant
WINFIELD SWANSON, Editor
Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Peter Crane
Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew, Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom
Gordon Eaton
USGS emeritus
Coupeville, Washington
Stan Eschner
Trio Petroleum Inc.
Bakersfield, California
William L. Fisher
The University of Texas
Austin
Alexander H. Flax
Consultant
Potomac, Maryland
Scott Hector
Carneros Energy, Inc.
Bakersfield, California
Robert Laing
ChevronTexaco
Pleasanton, California
David Simpson
IRIS Consortium
Washington, DC
Milton A. Wiltse
Alaska Geological Survey
Fairbanks
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Raymond A. Price, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Preface
On September 20, 1999, the National Research Council (NRC) received a letter from Dr. Philip D. Vasquez, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Natural Gas and Petroleum Technology, conveying the request of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that the NRC establish a committee to determine the options and develop a strategy for the preservation and management of subsurface geoscience data. Because of the broad concern on this matter across the geoscience community, a wide range of sponsors supported the activities of the committee. These sponsors were American Association of Petroleum Geologists, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation, American Geological Institute, Department of Energy–Fossil Energy, Department of Energy–Yucca Mountain, Geological Society of America, National Science Foundation, Paleontological Society, Petrotechnical Open Software Corporation, Schlumberger, Ltd., Smithsonian Institution, and U.S. Geological Survey.
The committee operated under the aegis of the Committee on Earth Resources, a standing committee of the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. It carried out its work through 4 meetings, 6 site visits by the full committee, 6 site visits by subsets of the committee, and distribution and analysis of a questionnaire. A total of 39 state geologic surveys and 17 other entities responded to the questionnaire. A list of oral and written contributions to the committee is provided in Appendix B. The full committee visited the following sites: the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC; the U.S. Geological Survey in Lakewood, Colorado; the Denver Earth Resources Library in Denver, Colorado; the National Geophysical Data Center in Boulder, Colorado; the Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin; and C&M Storage Inc. in Schulenberg, Texas. Subsets of the committee visited the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum; DOE’s Yucca Mountain project in Nevada; the Energy Information Administration in Washington, DC; the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland; the Northern Rockies Geologic Data Center, in Billings Montana; and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, DC.
In responding to DOE’s request to determine the options and develop a strategy for the preservation and management of geoscience data, the committee paid particular attention to the preservation and management of physical data (e.g., cores, cuttings, magnetic tapes, paper logs, rocks) as opposed to digital data. It is beyond the charge of the committee to focus on digital data. However, in keeping with the original intent of several funding agencies, the committee task was expanded beyond the original DOE request of “subsurface geoscience data” to include collections, especially those of a paleontological nature. It is important to clarify what is encompassed by the phrase “geoscience data and collections.” “Geoscience” is a term for the collective subdisciplines of the geological (solid Earth) sciences, including geobiology, geochemistry, geohydrology, geophysics, sedimentology, and stratigraphy, among others. “Data” and “collections” were distinguished from each other on the basis of whether the physical item originated naturally (a rock, mineral, or fossil) or was produced from some other medium (a paper log, a magnetic tape, a picture); the former fell under the definition of collection and the latter fell under the definition of geoscience data (see Appendix D). The committee recognizes that the terms “collections” and “data” mean different things to different sectors of the geosciences. For example, the petroleum and mining industries consider rock cores and cuttings as “data,” whereas the museum community considers them “collections.” The definitions of these terms as used herein reflect the need for internal consistency within the report. In terms of geographic scope, the committee focused on geoscience data and collections of unconstrained geographic origin, but housed in the United States.
DOE’s request to determine the options and develop a strategy for the preservation and management of geoscience data carries with it the implication that not everything can or should be preserved. To do otherwise is unrealistic and re-
quires no determination of options—everything is kept. Consequently, the committee entered into this project with the assumption that not everything could or should be kept. However, the diversity and variety of geoscience data and collections are so vast that no specific set of protocols for obtaining or discarding geoscience data and collections applies in all cases. To that end, the committee has produced a set of guidelines under the premise that those who work with the appropriate geoscience data and collections (i.e., the user community) are the ones who are in the best position to assess which items to keep and which to discard.
The committee is indebted to the support and hard work of NRC staff. Teresia Wilmore (NRC Project Assistant) was very helpful in making sure the committee got to the right places and helped us with NRC travel and reimbursement. Monica Lipscomb (NRC Research Assistant) was instrumental in tracking down information and assisting with editorial copy after editorial copy. Paul Cutler (NRC Study Director) kept the committee on track, provided extremely useful summaries of complex discussions, reminded us of our tasks and obligations, and did the initial writing for many parts of the written document. Anthony de Souza (BESR Director) and Tamara Dickinson (NRC Senior Program Officer) provided very useful feedback and comments on rough drafts. Winfield Swanson (NRC Editorial Consultant) edited the first and last drafts.
Christopher G. Maples, Chair
Contents
Figures, Tables, and Sidebars
FIGURES
1-1 |
Examples of Geoscience Samples and Collections that Provide the Underpinnings for Geoscience Data, |
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1-2 |
Examples of Geoscience Data, |
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1-3 |
Hazard Zones for Lava Flows, Lahars, and Pyroclastic Flows from Mt. Rainier, Washington, |
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1-4 |
Flames from Hutchinson, Kansas, January 17, 2001, |
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2-1 |
1,000 feet (333 boxes) of Rock Core Laid Out Inside the Bureau of Economic Geology Core Facility, University of Texas at Austin, |
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2-2 |
Percentage of Available Space for Cores and Samples at State Geological Surveys, |
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2-3 |
Cost of Archiving Geoscience Data and Collections Versus Total Amount of Material Retained, |
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2-4 |
Staffing-Level Trends in the USGS’s Geologic Division and Minerals Resource Survey Program (MRSP) from 1985 to 1996, |
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3-1 |
Examples of Where Geoscience Data and Collections Are Housed, |
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3-2 |
Coring and Cutting Devices, |
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3-3a |
Cores from Potter Mines, Matheson, Ontario, |
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3-3b |
Cuttings, |
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4-1 |
Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Management Structure, |
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4-2 |
Onsite Study and Screening Space for Core at the Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin, |
FIGURES FOR SIDEBARS
1-3 |
Collapsed Bridge Following Northridge Earthquake, |
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1-6 |
Fluid Inclusion Containing a Bubble of Gas, |
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1-7a |
Scientist Cleaning a Piece of Ice Core in a Cold Clean Room, |
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1-7b |
Close-up of an Ice Core from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project, |
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2-8 |
Megalonyx jeffersoni in the Indiana University Museum in the Late 1800s, |
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2-10 |
Cores Stored Outside at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, in Spring 2001, |
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2-11 |
Inside the National Ice Core Laboratory, |
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3-1 |
C&M Storage Inc. from the Air, |
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3-3 |
Interior of the Ocean Drilling Program Gulf Coast Repository in College Station, Texas, |
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3-4 |
Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin, |
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3-6 |
Building Stone Exposure and Test Wall, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C., |
TABLES
ES-1 |
Criteria for Determining Which Geoscience Data and Collections to Preserve, |
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1-1 |
Techniques for Recovering Oil Remaining after Primary and Waterflood Recovery, |
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1-2 |
Users and Beneficiaries of Geoscience Data, |
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2-1 |
Minimum Estimates of the Volume of Geoscience Data and Collections in the United States, |
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2-2 |
Examples of Transfer of Cores from Corporate-Owned Repositories to State Geological Surveys, |
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2-3a |
Available Space and Refusal of Samples at 35 State Geological Surveys, |
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2-3b |
Repository Space for Long-term Archiving of Geoscience Data and Collections at a Cross-section of Non-State Geological Facilities in the United States, |
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2-4 |
Threats to Geoscience Data and Collections, |
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2-5 |
Criteria for Determining Which Geoscience Data and Collections to Preserve, |
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2-6 |
Guidelines for Assessing Donation and Reception Priorities for Donors and Recipients of Geoscience Data and Collections, |
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3-1 |
Examples of Collectors of Geoscience Data and Collections, and Their Purpose, |
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3-2 |
Physical Parameters Recorded in Well Logs, |
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3-3 |
The 17 Largest Fossil Collections in the United States, |
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3-4 |
Paleontological Collections in the United States at Risk of Becoming Endangered or Orphaned in the Next Decade, |
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3-5 |
Holdings of the National Mine Map Repository, |
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4-1 |
Libraries and Geologic Sample Repositories—A Comparison of Cataloging Practices, |
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4-2 |
Incentives for Improving the Ability to Find Information about Geoscience Data and Collections, |
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5-1 |
Qualitative Assessment of Repository Options, |
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5-2 |
Percentage of Total U.S. Oil Production, 1945–1975 and 1976–2000, as a Proxy for Volume of Geoscience Data and Collections in the Gulf Coast, Pacific Coast, and Rocky Mountain Regions, |
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5-3 |
Estimated Cost Range to Establish a Regional Center, |
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5-4 |
Estimated Range of Recurring Costs for Each of the Three Research Centers, |
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5-5 |
Representative Service Charges, |
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5-6 |
Proposed Roles of a Federal Geoscience Data and Collections Coordinating Committee and Federal External Science-Advisory Boards, |
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D-1 |
Examples of Geoscience Collections, |
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D-2 |
Examples of Derived and Indirect Geoscience Data, |
SIDEBARS
1-1 |
Statement of Task, |
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1-2 |
Increased Use of Core for Research Articles in the Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geology, |
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1-3 |
Los Angeles Basin, |
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1-4 |
Extraction of Additional (By-passed) Oil and Gas Reserves, |
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1-5 |
Elmworth Gas Field, |
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1-6 |
A New Use of Cuttings: Analysis of Fluid Inclusions, |
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1-7 |
Ice Core Reuse, |
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2-1 |
Findings of the American Geological Institute in 1997, |
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2-2 |
Shell Oil’s Donation of Geoscience Data: A Success Story in Texas, |
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2-3 |
Regrettable Losses, |
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2-4 |
Dibblee Foundation: Ensuring Knowledge Transfer, |
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2-5 |
Australian and Canadian Assessment Reporting Requirements: A Contrast to Those in the United States, |
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2-6 |
How Much Core and Cuttings Does the Average Minerals Exploration Project Produce?, |
2-7 |
Extracts from an E-mail Notice Sent by Killam Associates of Millburn, New Jersey, to the Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York (October 25, 2001), |
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2-8 |
Examples of “Lost” Fossils, |
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2-9 |
The National Museum of Natural History and the U.S. Geological Survey, |
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2-10 |
Examples of Inaccessible Geoscience Data and Collections, |
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2-11 |
Managing Ice Cores at the National Ice Core Laboratory, |
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3-1 |
C&M Storage Inc., |
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3-2 |
USGS Core Research Center at the Denver Federal Center, Lakewood, Colorado, |
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3-3 |
Ocean Drilling Program Facilities, |
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3-4 |
Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin, |
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3-5 |
Alaska Geologic Materials Center, |
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3-6 |
The Merrill Collection of Building Stones, |
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3-7 |
Reno Sales–Charles Meyer–Anaconda Memorial Collection, |
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3-8 |
Examples of Government Holdings of Documentation, |
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3-9 |
Denver Earth Resources Library, |
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4-1 |
Calgary Core Research Centre, |
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4-2 |
National Geophysical Data Center, Marine Geology and Geophysics Division, |
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4-3 |
Profiling the Collections at the Smithsonian: A Tiered Approach to Collections Description, |
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4-4 |
Institute of Museum and Library Services, |
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4-5 |
Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, |
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4-6 |
Method of Attribution for Reports Using Ocean Drilling Program Data and Collections, |
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4-7 |
Geoinformatics, |
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4-8 |
Smithsonian’s Research and Collections Information System, |