PRESERVATION OF CORES AND SAMPLES

The last several decades have seen a decreasing emphasis on preserving hard data and sample files. Many of the major petroleum companies donated both data and support to established facilities for preservation of this valuable information. Less successful has been the archiving of cores, samples, and supporting data from the files of small companies and independent operators. There is also less priority on support for private and state maintained facilities. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) has a permanent committee focused on the importance of core and sample utilization and preservation. As a part of its mission, this AAPG Committee has membership that includes and works closely with established facilities, industry, governmental agencies, and societies. In addition to rock material, the Committee supports the preservation of those data directly attributable to this rock material to include core analysis, sample descriptions, and stratigraphic assignment.

As a test, a survey was made of the utilization of these data in the AAPG Bulletin over a three-year period (1979-1981). Two hundred twenty five articles were included in this review (including longer “Notes”). It was determined that 38% of the articles relied on core and/or sample data. When utilized, the data were the primary resource for 62% of the research and 38% as a secondary resource. The profile of authors was; company 24%, independent 2%, government 34%, and academic 40%. Material was both newly collected and accessed from an available facility. Only rarely was the final deposition of the samples given. Similar results were obtained in a survey of the Bulletin for the period 1996-1998. It is obvious these data are needed and utilized.

The natural resource system of an area can only be properly understood and utilized to the extent that its geologic history has been interpreted in four dimensions. This is true whether the issue is economic resources, environmental concerns, or the natural hazards. The information collected from wells drilled for a variety of purposes forms a permanent library that will be accessed and re-accessed as new resources and new research techniques are developed. Industry, societies, and agencies must participate in preserving these data.