Today the Kochi Core Center (KCC), which is jointly operated by the Kochi University and Kochi Institute of Core Sample Research (director, Wataru Azuma) of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC; president, Yasuhiro Kato), received the first batch of marine core samples from the Texas A&M University, USA as a part of core redistribution plan of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)*. The core samples were collected from the western Pacific and the Indian oceans over the past 3 decades. The core redistribution plan shall be completed within one year from now.

 The core samples (hereafter, legacy core) collected under the Deep Sea Drilling Program (DSDP) and the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) from all over the world oceans are being redistributed at three core repositories [KCC, Bremen Core Repository (BCR) of the Bremen University, Germany and Gulf Coast Repository (GCR) of the Texas A&M University, USA] under the framework of recently initiated IODP. The total length of the legacy core to be curated at the KCC is about 84 km. The core samples delivered this time consist of 'Residues' from the core samples which have been used in past by many researchers for conducting different types of scientific analyses.

 Moreover, the core samples collected by the JAMSTEC's deep sea drilling vessel 'Chikyu' for the IODP expeditions in future shall also be curated at the KCC.

*The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) is an international scientific research program dedicated to advancing scientific understanding of the Earth by monitoring and sampling subseafloor environments. Through multiple platforms, IODP scientists explore the deep biosphere, environmental change, geodynamics and solid earth cycles. In all, 21 member countries participate in IODP. More program information is available at www.iodp.org.