Core Lab Technician SOP

Standard Operating Procedure – Core Lab 

Jan 2018
V375
I. PRE EXPEDITION

• See General JRSO Shipboard Technical Staff SOP

II. PORT CALL - Start of an Expedition

• See General JRSO Shipboard Technical Staff SOP

III. SITE PREPARATION - Prior to arrival on site and core on deck

The following is a list of actions that should be accomplished prior to arriving at the first site. On cruises with short transit times before reaching the first site it is advisable to perform as many of the preparations in port as possible.
Familiarize yourself with the Core Lab Cookbook.
ALOs are the corelab foremen; you will be working under supervision of the ALOs in the corelab. 

A. Stock supplies for the following areas

• Core entry
• Catwalk
• Sampling area
• Smear slides area
• Splitting room
• Core boxing area
• Paleo Preparation Lab

B. Equipment check

All equipment should be in proper operation condition

• • Core liner cutters are cleaned with new hook blades installed, and in operational condition
  • Soft sediment wire cutter should have wire and hook blades installed
  • All saw blades are cleaned and sharp
  • Drill Presses have correct size bits and in operation condition

C. Laser Engraver

Laser engraver is used to engrave section information on the plastic core liner as backup label.  It is mandatory for first time users to be properly trained, to review the safety document, and to take a laser safety examination before use.

IV. DURING CORING OPERATIONS 

A. Core on deck

• Receive cores on the catwalk when "Core on Deck" is called.
• Assist curator/ALO and fellow technical staff in processing and curating cores on the catwalk.
• Carry cut section whole round cores into the core lab and place them in the laser engraver.
• Proceed in labeling each section in the core entry area with engraving, marking the endcaps, and apply barcode label.
• Re-locate the labeled sections to designated shelf to make room in the laser engraver for the next core.
• Distribute printed barcode labels to designated location, prepare/label D-tubes for core storage.
• Clean the catwalk and re-stock supply when necessary.

B. Processing Cores through the labs

• Leave core whole round section in the core rack to equilibrate to room temperature (3-4 hours) for sediment cores.
• Assisting scientists with running the sections through whole round tracks.
• Keep track of the core flow. When a core has been measured through all whole round tracks, the data was loaded and checked, and the scientists are ready to receive more cores, it is time to split the core. Check with ALO and/or the curator before splitting a core.
• Work with fellow technicians for core splitting.
• Consult ALO/Curator if splitting equipment needs to be changed from the wire cutter to supersaw. And vice versa.
• Distribute split sections to their designated tables.
• Assist in core sampling when requested by ALO/curator
• Ensure all core sections are properly labeled and remain properly labeled. Correct and/or re-apply label when necessary.
• Box cores when it is necessary.
• Keep track of the boxed sections using the Core Box Inventory forms.
• Transport core boxes to core reefer and keep working and archive boxes separate in the core reefer.

Handling of hard rock (HR) core differs from soft sediment. Hard rock curation needs to be done by the ALO/Curator or a senior technician and petrologists. Proceed as follows:

• Pre-split core liners. And later after the HR cores are received, label and engrave empty liners for core transfer.
• Hard Rock cores are routinely curated before they are run through the whole round track. See Corelab Handbook for detail curation procedure.

For details on proper handling and curation of special cores including soupy cores, expanding cores, cores with split liners, H₂S cores, and cores with critical intervals (e.g K/T boundary, volcanic glass, sulfides, sapropel, etc.), see the curatorial cookbook section on "Special Core Handling".

C. General activities
Corelab/Core entry

• Assist Scientists in locating supplies and equipment
• Keep supplies in all areas stocked. Check on levels of supplies DAILY.
• Check and maintain AMS inventory on a regular basis and submit orders to the ALOs
• Maintain and repair general corelab equipment, including barcode label printers, dremel tool for core liner scribing, staple guns for core boxing, etc. All equipment should be ready to receive the next core.
• Contact proper support for equipment repair, such as ETs and MCSs.
• Keep all equipment cleaned.
• Sweep and vacuum the corelab floor, wipe down countertop periodically and when necessary.
• Update shipboard manuals and cookbooks on a regular basis.
• Collect and remove all trash, including cardboard boxes, plastic waste, and others, to incinerator area

Core Splitting Room

• Maintain and repair all core splitting and sample cutting equipment. All equipment should be in proper operation condition, and ready to receive the next core/sample. This includes soft sediment wire cutter, supersaw, drill presses, all rock saws, sonic welder.
• Keep all core splitting equipment cleaned after each core and sample cutting. Thoroughly rinse the supersaw, wire splitter, all rock saws. Rinse and squeegee the trough and countertop thoroughly. Clean the sediment trap in the sink, rinse the sink off all debris.
• Sweep and vacuum the floor periodically

Paleo Preparation Lab

• Maintain and repair all equipment in the Paleo Prep lab
• Assist Scientists in locating supplies and equipment
• Contact ALOs/Chemtechs in preparing chemicals
• Sweep and vacuum the floor periodically

D. Prioritized order

• Core on deck – every core
• Core labeling – every core
• Core splitting – every core
• Core boxing – as needed
• Supplies stocking – as needed
• Cleaning and housekeeping – per shift and as needed
• Equipment maintenance and repair – as needed

V. DURING TRANSITS

• Continue processing cores through the lab as described above
• Lab cleaning
• Preparing for upcoming site

VI. DURING EXPEDITION

• Maintain inventory by performing physical counts. Notify the ALOs if any quantity discrepancy or unusual high usage occurred.

VII. END OF EXPEDITION ACTIVITIES

• Write the end-of-Expedition lab report, send a copy to the Lab Officer.
• Make sure all data are sent to LIMS before the MCSs cut off database access. All non-essential data should be erased from the hard disks of all the computers.
• Pack up equipment being returned for repairs and give the Assistant Lab Officer the following information: IODP inventory number, value, weight, serial number, model number, vendor's name and country of manufacture.
• Give the Lab Officer a list for port purchases if any.
• Clean the lab and assigned area following the cleaning instruction listed in the Corelab Handbook. Bring all the trash to the incinerator. Glass and sharps get disposed of in port call.
• Perform the end of Expedition maintenance as listed in the Corelab Handbook.

VIII. PORT CALL – Off Going

• See General JRSO Shipboard Technical Staff SOP