An interdisciplinary approach to sampling hard rock cores of the oceanic crust for microbiological and biogeochemical research
Abstract
Studying life in the deep, rocky subseafloor involves many layers of technological and methodological challenges, and each drilling project or expedition must make a series of choices to address these challenges. We report on the workflow for sampling hard rock cores for microbiological and biogeochemical research that was developed and optimized during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 399. All steps of the workflow, including selection of the sample and its shipboard homogenization and subsampling for specific analyses, were designed to maximize the potential for interdisciplinary collaborations and syntheses of results. Furthermore, multiple strategies to minimize and detect potential microbial and organic chemical contamination of the core samples were employed, including the shipboard detection of a fluorescent chemical tracer pumped into the drill fluid. Contamination tracer levels were detectable on the exterior surfaces of the core but absent in the homogenized interiors of most core samples. Based on the experiences and preliminary results of this expedition, recommendations for processing samples on future expeditions are presented.
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BibTeX
@article{brazelton2026interdisciplinary,
title = {{An interdisciplinary approach to sampling hard rock cores of the oceanic crust for microbiological and biogeochemical research}},
author = {William J Brazelton and Oscar Cavazos and Jordyn A Robare and Gordon Southam and Johanna Suhonen and Fengping Wang and Susan Q Lang and Andrew Mccaig and Peter Blum and Natsue Abe and Rémi Coltat and Jeremy R Deans and Kristin L Dickerson and Marguerite Godard and Barbara E John and Frieder Klein and Rebecca Kuehn and Kuan-Yu Lin and C. Johan Lissenberg and Haiyang Liu and Ethan L Lopes and Toshio Nozaka and Andrew J Parsons and Vamdev Pathak and Mark K Reagan and C. Geoffrey Wheat},
journal = {Scientific Drilling},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.5194/sd-35-159-2026},
url = {https://insu.hal.science/insu-05750147v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - An interdisciplinary approach to sampling hard rock cores of the oceanic crust for microbiological and biogeochemical research
AU - William J Brazelton
AU - Oscar Cavazos
AU - Jordyn A Robare
AU - Gordon Southam
AU - Johanna Suhonen
AU - Fengping Wang
AU - Susan Q Lang
AU - Andrew Mccaig
AU - Peter Blum
AU - Natsue Abe
AU - Rémi Coltat
AU - Jeremy R Deans
AU - Kristin L Dickerson
AU - Marguerite Godard
AU - Barbara E John
AU - Frieder Klein
AU - Rebecca Kuehn
AU - Kuan-Yu Lin
AU - C. Johan Lissenberg
AU - Haiyang Liu
AU - Ethan L Lopes
AU - Toshio Nozaka
AU - Andrew J Parsons
AU - Vamdev Pathak
AU - Mark K Reagan
AU - C. Geoffrey Wheat
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/11
JO - Scientific Drilling
DO - 10.5194/sd-35-159-2026
UR - https://insu.hal.science/insu-05750147v1
AB - Studying life in the deep, rocky subseafloor involves many layers of technological and methodological challenges, and each drilling project or expedition must make a series of choices to address these challenges. We report on the workflow for sampling hard rock cores for microbiological and biogeochemical research that was developed and optimized during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 399. All steps of the workflow, including selection of the sample and its shipboard homogenization and subsampling for specific analyses, were designed to maximize the potential for interdisciplinary collaborations and syntheses of results. Furthermore, multiple strategies to minimize and detect potential microbial and organic chemical contamination of the core samples were employed, including the shipboard detection of a fluorescent chemical tracer pumped into the drill fluid. Contamination tracer levels were detectable on the exterior surfaces of the core but absent in the homogenized interiors of most core samples. Based on the experiences and preliminary results of this expedition, recommendations for processing samples on future expeditions are presented.
SN - 1816-8957
ER -