Message from the Director
Our role
International and national collaboration
What is a marine core?
Message from the Director
The Center for Advanced Marine Core Research (CMCR) was established in 2000 both as the research institute of marine core samples, and as an interdisciplinary facility promoting education and research in marine sciences at Kochi University. Since 2009, the center has been recognized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as a "Joint Usage/Research Center for Earth Drilling Science" and has been conducting education and research activities in the field of Earth and Planetary Science in a broad sense, including mineral resource development and applied microbiology. On average, about 1,700 scholars and researchers from Japan and abroad have visited the center annually over the past several years, excluding the impact of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. In addition, under a cooperative agreement with the
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), our research center jointly operates facilities and equipment as the Kochi Core Center (KCC). The KCC is one of the three major repositories in the world, together with the Gulf Coast Repository of Texas A&M University, USA, and the Bremen Core Repository of the University of Bremen, Germany, according to the IODP.
Thanks to the efforts of the former director and the great service of the center's faculty and staff, we were able to obtain an “A rating” in the second interim evaluation of the national research center in FY2018 of Japan, the same as the first year-end evaluation. The goals of CMCR are as follows: (1) promotion of international education and research, (2) basic analysis and applied research of core samples and development of information database, (3) initiation of open joint research contributing to Earth and Planetary Science, (4) operation of analytical instruments system that can be used by various scholars and researchers, and (5) development of support programs for fostering young researchers. In addition to the above, new plans include (6) construction of a new core sample storage facility and (7) introduction of advanced and state-of-art analytical equipment. We hope that you will continue to support and encourage CMCR and its place as an innovative world-class research center.
Yuji Sano, PhD
Professor of Geochemistry
CMCR, Kochi University
Our role
●Joint Usage/Research Center for Drilling Earth Science (JURC-DES)
●Core Repository for International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)
●Education and Research Center for Earth-System Studies
International and national collaboration
We have concluded cooperative agreements with Earth-science research institutes and universities in Japan and overseas, and we are actively developing international joint research and exchanges.
■International collaboration
■National collaboration
What is a marine core?
On the seafloor, dead marine organisms and their related organic materials, dust, and sediment particles have accumulated over time. Marine-sediment cores serve as a record of these materials’ changes. For example, using multidisciplinary approaches, scientists may analyze cores to reconstruct the Earth’s past environment and climate, sea level, ocean currents, water temperature, biosphere, and magnetic field. Such reconstructions lead us to a better understanding of the Earth system and thus help us predict the future.
Marine cores are collected from the seafloor by marine-research vessels (e.g., R/V Hakuho-maru, R/V Mirai, R/V Kairei) and deep-sea drilling vessels (e.g., R/V JOIDES Resolution and D/V Chikyu). Sediments are older with depth below the seafloor, while sediment composition and grain size are a function of water depth and other environmental conditions.
The CMCR members and students participate in many scientific cruises to collect cores from many parts of the World Ocean.
Photos of marine sediment cores collected by the R/V Hakuho-maru
(1) Alternation of strata, Japan Sea
(2,436 m water depth)
(2) Laminated sediments, Japan Sea
(2,373 m water depth)
(3) Hemipelagic sediments, East China Sea
(1,709 m water depth)
(4) Calcareous ooze, Arabian Sea
(1,184 m water depth)
(5) Calcareous ooze, Arabian Sea
(1,474 m water depth)
(6) Calcareous ooze, Sulu Sea
(2,993 m water depth)
(7) Siliceous ooze, Southern Ocean
(3,358 m water depth)
■Marine-core recovery and curation
CMCR faculty members and graduate students participate in scientific cruises on JAMSTEC research vessels (R/V Hakuho-maru, R/V Shinsei-maru, R/V Mirai, and R/V Kairei) to collect marine cores from the seafloor all over the world.
Marine-core samples are collected with specialized devices, such as piston corers and multiple corers. How does piston coring work?
Analytical core flow and curation after recovery
Core flow and curation［PDF］
