RPL co-Is Billy Brazelton, Lisa Mayhew, and Matt Schrenk spent 2+ weeks at the Bremen Core Repository at the University of Bremen, Germany (Jan-Feb 2016). Approximately 50 meters of hard rock core, retrieved during the offshore portion of IODP/ECORD Expedition 357: Atlantis Massif Serpentinization and Life (Oct. – Dec. 2015), was described, archived, and sampled for post-cruise research. Scientists split into teams to thoroughly describe the structure, petrology, and mineralogy of the core to better understand the geologic history and significance of the rocks. The chemistry of fluids sampled from the boreholes and surrounding ocean water was also measured. Samples were taken for ‘shipboard’ analyses including moisture and density, paleomag, XRD, and whole rock geochemical analyses (e.g. majors, minors, trace elements). Much of this data was obtained and processed during the OSP and it is available to the Exp. 357 science party as we pursue our post-cruise research. Finally, members of the team requested specific samples for use in post-cruise research. Team members were highly encouraged to collaborate and share samples when possible so many of these rocks will be studied in great depth with complementary analyses. The requested core materials have already begun to arrive in our labs!
