Tech Report - Core Description

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Dec 02, 2020
4 min read

Technician: Alexis Armstrong

Summary

Expedition 390C was a re-entry focused expedition; which cored, cased, and deployed re-entry systems for the postponed expedition 390. Core material collected was minimal, and consisted of both sediment and hard rock. Sediment cores were split, scrapped, and ran through the section-half tracks; whereas hard rock and material at the sediment/hard-rock interface were not processed. No material, either sediment nor hard-rock, was described; no templates were created. Sediment cores will be brought to the ship and described at the time of expedition 390. Hard-rock sections will stay on the ship until 390; they will then be curated, split, ran through the section-half tracks and described.

Issues/Devleopments

DESClogik

Current Version: 16.2.0.0.

DESClogik was not used. DESClogik was opened, tested (performing normal functions), and confirmed to be working.

Updates

No updates to report.

Issues

No issues to report

Core Description Lab

The smear-slide (SS) section was moved to the forward table of the Core Description area. The SS station consists of the Axioplan microscope, hot-plate, UV box, Zebra printer, Slide making supplies, and reference slides.

To accommodate reference slides, a custom drawer was created. To accommodate slide making supplies, and generic lab storage, a Vidmar cabinet was moved underneath the SS station counter.

A secondary monitor was mounted above the auxiliary table, to be used as a LIVE display monitor.

The location of the UV box has been placed underneath the secondary description table; whereas, the Zebra printer is located underneath the third or auxiliary description table. The hotplate is located on the SS station benchtop, as it can be a hazard if placed out of line of sight.

All placements of equipment can be changed. Please look over the SS station and access if any changes need to be made. If this station stays in it’s current position, future modifications proposed are: 1) Shielding for the hot plate (concern has been made about the placement of the hot-plate and the computer monitor cables), 2) a wooden tray for the basics needed for SS creation (to sit atop of the benchtop), 3) a proper foot rest to alleviate lower back pain (useful for smaller microscope users), and 4) a proper bench-top height chair.

 

Following photos showing the new SS station:

Paleontology Wet Lab

  • Both faucets were replaced.

  • Performed physical counts and inventory of the sieves

  • Performed physical counts and inventory of all accessory equipment stored and used in the Paleo wet lab. Full inventory list can be found at: http://confluence.ship.iodp.tamu.edu:8090/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=63767790

  • Performed a routine check of the chemicals and solutions stored within the wet lab. Disposed of any discolored containers, old solutions and un-labelled solutions

Microscopes

  • Performed routine maintenance (cleaning, corrections, alignment) to all microscopes

SEM

The SEM and Sputter Coater were turned on and confirmed to be working. No issues to report

Thin Section Report Builder/Writer

No thin sections were described. The Report Builder and Writer were not used. No issues to report.

Shipments

No shipments were received

GEODESC

Geodesc is in full development, with a focus on Template Manager, Data Capture, Data Access, and Taxa File Checker. Implementation and testing are active for both Template Manager and Data Capture.

Changes in testing schedule and methods have been implemented, with each application in testing (TM and DC) released on a staggered bi-weekly schedule (TM is scheduled for the 3rd, with DC scheduled for the 10th). The normal schedule will be put on hold for the holidays, with the next release of TM (version 15) scheduled for January 14th 2021. On the Monday of the scheduled release week, the lead developer emails the respective test plan manager to inform them of upcoming changes. This allows the test plan manager to edit the test plan, and to try to stay as up to date as possible.

An overview “Testing” document was created, and can be found at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Q98CRwa2cDZhS7T8YGHmiI8_IGyepKNj-DpBQT93kXI/edit

This document explains how to test, how to write a test plan, how to assign testers, how to create an issue report, etc.