Construction and Support of a Polar Rock Repository

该奖项由极地项目办公室提供，支持建立极地地质材料储存库。该项目的目标是建设和运营一个极地岩石储存库，为美国南极和北极地球科学界服务。这个国家极地岩石储存库将存放美国地球科学家通过40多年的野外工作从南极洲和北极获得的样本，并为未来的需求提供支持。美国目前没有这样的设施，岩石收藏品分散在全国各地，往往储存不足，未经管理。这些岩石收藏品将被编目和管理，并可供美国地球科学界和海外同事使用，并可用于地球科学教育目的。所有收集的数据和适当的分析数据将储存在最近由南极研究中心人员设计的联机南极地质数据库中，并可通过因特网查阅。该数据库可以扩大到包括北极岩石和沉积岩芯收藏。该奖项将有助于支持在俄亥俄州州立大学校园内建造一座约6,000平方英尺的单层建筑，该建筑毗邻一座现有的冷藏建筑，该建筑容纳沉积物岩心和其他样品，并毗邻斯科特大厅（伯德极地研究中心的实验室和办公室所在地）。在斯科特大厅，工作室有岩石锯和钻床，湿实验室/样品制备设施，显微镜和摄影设备，可用于初步的岩石和化石检查。规划和建设阶段预计需要两年左右。该奖项还支持馆长和学生帮助国家极地岩石储存库在建设完成后的设置和建立阶段。通过访问科学家对标本进行直接物理检查，通过租借/请求样本分割以及通过在线数据库访问藏品将是可能的。国家指导委员会将为该设施提供美国地球科学界的意见，并监督政策、程序和管理。这样一个国家储存和研究设施对美国继续进行高质量的研究至关重要。它提供了一个样本信息数据库，沿着有重点的提案准备的重要资源，以及未来研究的宝贵材料来源，通过促进试点研究和其他基于样本的研究，使未来的实地工作更加高效和有效。后一个方面可以减少对敏感极地地区的环境影响。

This award, provided by the Office of Polar Programs, supports the establishment of a repository for polar geological materials. The objective of this project is to construct and operate a Polar Rock Repository to serve the U.S. Antarctic and Arctic earth science community. This National Polar Rock Repository would house sample collections from Antarctica and the Arctic obtained by U.S. earth scientists through more than 40 decades of fieldwork, and provide for future needs. The United States does not currently have such a facility, and rock collections are scattered throughout the country, often in inadequate and uncurated storage. The rock collections would be catalogued and curated, and accessible to the U.S. earth science community and overseas colleagues, as well as being available for earth sciences educational purposes. All collection and appropriate analytical data will be stored in the on-line Antarctic Geologic Database recently designed by BPRC personnel and available via the Internet. The Database can be expanded to include Arctic rock and sedimentary core collections. The award will help to support construction of a single-floor building with about 6,000 square feet of storage apace on The Ohio State University campus, adjacent to an already existing cold storage building that houses sediment cores and other samples, and adjacent to Scott Hall (site of laboratories and offices of the Byrd Polar Research Center). In Scott Hall, work rooms with rock saws and a drill press, wet laboratory/sample preparation facilities, microscope and photographic equipment are available for preliminary rock and fossil examination. The planning and construction phase is expected to take about two years. This award also supports a Curator and student help for the set-up and establishment phase of the National Polar Rock Repository following completion of construction.Access to the collections will be possible by direct physical examination of the specimens by a visiting scientist, by loan/request of sample splits, and via the on-line Database. A National Steering Committee will provide input from the U.S. earth science community for this facility and will oversee policies, procedures and management. Such a national storage and research facility is of vital importance for the continuing high quality research conducted by the U.S. It provides, along with a database of sample information, an essential resource for focused proposal preparation, and an invaluable source of material for future research that should make future fieldwork more efficient and effective by facilitating pilot studies and other sample-based research. This latter aspect could reduce environmental impacts in sensitive polar regions.