Curatorial Stewardship of a National Collection of Geological Rock & Sediment Cores from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean

The Antarctic Earth Science Program in the Antarctic Sciences Section of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Polar Programs provides support for the curation and long-term storage of core material collected on the Antarctic continent and its margins. Currently, the Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility (AMGRF) at Florida State University is fulfilling this role. The AMGRF was established in 1963 and is housed in a single-story, 10,000 sq. ft. building on the Florida State University campus.   This facility consists of a 6000 sq. ft. cold room (34 °F), a walk-in freezer (-27 °F) and office and lab space. AMGRF houses approximately 21,400 meters of marine sediment and drill cores collected from over 90 United States Antarctic Program (USAP) research cruises.  Approximately 5,300 meters of core are stored in core boxes, 6,000 meters of piston cores are stored in plastic sleeves in sections up to 3.5 meters long, 600 meters of core are stored in various other containers, and approximately 10,500 meters are stored in D-tubes. Less than 100 meters of core is stored at -20° F.  In addition the AMGRF has an estimated 5000 bags of samples from grab samples and core catchers.

Florida State University has been an effective steward of these marine cores for many years but the University has recently notified NSF that continued operation of the AMGRF is no longer central to the long term vision of the University. Consequently, this solicitation seeks a qualified organization to provide core curation services for geological cores collected in the polar regions. The award will be administered as a Cooperative Agreement and will cover a five-year operating period beginning October 1, 2017.  A programmatic review will be held prior to the completion of the initial period of support and the results will guide the decision whether to renew the Cooperative Agreement for another five-year period.