U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Survey

USGSCore Research Center

Overview of Collections, New Database and Web-Available Products

Jeannine Honey

Established in 1974 Goal to Rescue Valuable Rock Cores and Cuttings

Threatened with Disposal or Destruction and make them Available to Scientists and Educators from Government, Industry, and Academia

1500 Visitors Each Year Located in Building 810 on the Denver Federal Center

CRC Collections

Cores “Archived” (Slabbed) Unprocessed

Well Cuttings Thin Sections Core Photos Analysis

Examination Rooms for Core and Cuttings

Warehouse: 80,000 Square Feet

States Represented in Collection

Core Collection 1.7 Million Feet of Core from 9000 Wells in 35 States Most from Rocky Mountain Region Majority Drilled for Oil and Gas Exploration and

Donated by Private Companies Collection Includes some Mining Cores Small Percentage Drilled by USGS for Special

Scientific Purposes Annual Cost of Storage

About 0.5 percent of the original cost of drilling 0.05 percent of what it would cost to drill the cores today The USGS can store the cores for at least 200 years before

reaching the original cost of drilling

“Archived” Cores Slabbed Re-boxed in Tray-Style Boxes Photographed Stored on Shelves Like Books in a Library Slabbing Provides Clean, Flat Surface that

Reveals Details in the Rock About 50% of CRC Cores are “Archived”

Unprocessed Cores Same Condition as Received May be Full Diameter, Thick Slab (Butt), Thin Slab, or Split All Sizes and Shapes of Boxes Stacked on Pallets

Archived Core Storage Storing the Archived Cores Like Books in a Library

Allows Easy Access for One Box or Many The CRC Collection has 40,000 Archive Boxes

Containing over 400,000 feet of Core from 4500 Different Wells

Electric Order Picker Used to Reach Boxes on High Shelves

Efficient Storage for Unprocessed Cores

Four-High Pallet Racks

Narrow Aisles Side-Loading

Forklift

Side-Loading Forklift

Cuttings Collection 238 Million Feet of Drilling Represented by

Over 52,000 Wells from 28 States Most from Rocky Mountain Region 125,000 Boxes Stored on 1,785 Feet of

Shelving 16 Feet High Most of Collection Came from a Single

Donation Estimated Replacement Cost of Over $10

Billion New Drilling Methods are Not Producing

Cuttings

Cuttings Storage

Cuttings Stored in Paper Envelopes Marked with Depth

Envelopes Kept in Cardboard Boxes Variety of Sizes and Shapes of Boxes 1,785 Feet of Shelving 16 Feet High

Thin Section Collection 18,000+ Thin Sections from

Sampling of the Core or Cuttings Collections

Stored in Metal or Paper Holders

Holders Filed in Drawers Petrographic Microscope

Available for Viewing and Photographing Thin Sections

Scanned Images Available on Web

Analysis Files

Sampling of Core or Cuttings is Permitted Provided that Enough Material is Available

Results of Analyses Must be Returned to the CRC

Data is Available to All Data Files Have Been

Scanned and are Available on the Web

New Returned Data Should be Provided in Digital Form

2008 - 2009 CRC Database Converted to Oracle

Advantages of the New System Include: Multiple Users can Simultaneously View and Update Data Scanned Images are Included in Database and are Linked to

the Record for the Well Well Catalog on CRC Web Page Updated in Real Time Customers can Download Scanned Images from CRC Web

Page

Legacy Card Catalog is Still Maintained

Digital Data Project and Transition to Web

Well Catalog All Online and Updated in Real Time

Core Photos 20% of Cores have Photos Online

Scans of Thin Sections 95% Scanned and Online

Analysis 99% Scanned and Online

Image Download: Benefits to Customers

Provides Preview so they can Determine if the Material Meets their Needs

Can do Research Prior to Visit so on Arrival they Know what to Target to Maximize the Efficiency of their Visit

Encourages use of Existing Data, Decreases Sampling of Material, Reduces Duplication of Effort – Preserves Collection

Web Catalog

Customers can Click on a State to get a List of all the Cores or Cuttings in that State

OR use Search Boxes to Select by State, Township, Range, and Section

Resulting Well List can be Sorted by any Column or Combination of Columns

Web Core List (Excel Friendly)

More Information and Links to Images

Photos, Thin Sections, Data

USGS Core Research Center Contacts

Betty Adrian badrian@usgs.gov

Jeannine Honey jhoney@usgs.gov

John Rhoades jfrhoades@usgs.gov

Web http://geology.cr.usgs.gov/crc/

Phone 303 202-4851