Swiss Drilling
Switzerland's participation in international scientific drilling
Swiss Core Curation and Storage Facility (SWICCS)
The Rationale: Currently, scientists at Swiss institutions are lacking adequate facilities that can accommodate and service complex and evolving sampling needs and infrastructure for rapid and comprehensive characterization of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rock drill cores or other valuable and delicate samples (e.g. core-based biologic/microbial/genetic samples but also fossil wood logs).
The Initiative: Across the Swiss geoscience community, and imposed by emerging international obligations and standards for Archiving (data and specimen), FAIR data principles (easily Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and Reproducibility, there is a nationwide recognized and urgent need for a professional and sustained Data and Sediment Core Curation facility with managed data and sample storage and archiving. State-of-the-art sample storage is not only a precondition for us to conduct our research, it is at foremost an obligation and compliance towards our national and international funding agencies.
The Roadmap to SWICCS
Core Facilities
Example of a core storage facility at Lamont-Doherty core repository, USA.