With over 300 kilometers of core stored at repositories in Texas, Germany, and Japan, the task of requesting samples from the ocean drilling programs can seem overwhelming. We’ve laid out some resources here to help you begin. The best place to start is IODP’s single-access data website, which contains links to the sample request forms and databases needed to help you search the online data archives and to locate information about microbiology sample availability.

On that website, you’ll find a link to the Scientific Earth Drilling Information System (SEDIS). SEDIS allows you to search for data and information based on geography, expeditions, analytical methods, and a variety of other keywords. You can look up which expeditions collected samples you might be interested in analyzing, learn which data sets already exist in your field of interest, and find relevant publications. If the data sets, publications, and photos are available online, SEDIS will provide the appropriate links.

After locating the relevant and available datasets and expeditions, you can determine if you want to request samples collected by the International Ocean Discovery Program, or one of its predecessor programs. Samples are available free of charge, with a few restrictions (such as a one year moratorium period after the expedition or shore-based sampling) and a few obligations (laid out in the IODP Sample, Data, and Obligations Policy). To request samples, it is necessary to determine the exact core you would like to sample, including the expedition or leg number, the interval, and the total number and size of samples. Samples from recent expeditions can be requested through the Sample Material Curation System (SMCS), while samples from expeditions and legs prior to Expedition 314 should be made directly to the Gulf Coast Repository.

For more specific questions, please contact the IODP Core Repositories.