Hello! This is Evan, a third year doctoral
student at Yokoyama Laboratories.
During July, I was able to do some
subsampling on cores from around the Kumamoto area. Through our collaboration
with AIST, we were able to get access to cores that were collected about 3
years ago. As a part of my research project, we are looking into the past
sea-level history around Kyushu, so these samples will give me a lot of
exciting data points to analyze!
But first, what is subsampling? Subsampling
is a process in which we take a sediment core, and methodically select parts of
the core to collect sediment, shell, wood, or any other samples that we find so
that we can analyze them. Subsampling happens after sampling, which in this
case refers specifically to when the sediment core is obtained from the ground or ocean floor.
For this round of subsampling, our cores
were very dry and solidified, so we had to use spatulas, wedges, and even
hammers to break the cores into smaller bits, and shave and crumble the core
into sediment we could use. We had to process, observe, and sample a large
amount of cores. Thankfully, I was able to rely on my labmates who were kind
enough to come in and help me subsample. We managed to wrap up all the sampling
within a week, thanks to their help!
