The CLIMAP (Climate: Long-range Investigation, Mapping, andPrediction) Project was funded by the National Science Foundation aspart of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) Program. The CLIMAP 18k bp sediment data files were compiled by Oregon State University, and include the work of several major institutions.

The NGDC (now NCEI) Seafloor Sediment Grain Size Database contains particle size data for over 17,000 seafloor samples worldwide. The file was begun by NGDC in 1976 in response to a need by the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP) for a detailed, digital file of textural analyses. Data are from OCSEAP studies, academic institutions, environmental baseline studies conducted under contract to the Bureau of Land Management under the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Program, and from laboratory reports generated by the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office.

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) compiled data on the
geochemistry of marine ferromanganese nodules, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation
(NSF), as part of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE). Data were collected
under the Manganese Nodule (MNNOD) and Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Studies (DOMES) programs.
This SIO compilation includes data from 442 dredge and grab samples and 419 cores collected at

The SEATAR files were compiled by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography with funds from IDOE/NSF, as part of the SIO world sediment data bank, under the direction of Jane Frazer and Mary Fisk.
Data were abstracted from published sources through 1976 and include descriptions of 5919 grabs/dredges and 2249 cores from the area 15 degrees south to 45 degrees north, 90 degrees to 150 degrees east.

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography compiled descriptions of sediment samples related to ferromanganese deposits, funded through the International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) and Project MAGNOD by the National Science Foundation, as part of the SIO world sediment data bank. Descriptions are for 41 cores, 136 grab/dredges, and 19 box cores primarily from the East Central Pacific. Data include lithology, percent CaCO3, constituents by grain size, organic material/fossils, ages, other features, and minerals. Station and inventory information are included.

The Centre National Pour l'Exploitation des Oceans (CNEXO)
ferromanganese nodule analysis files consist of geochemical data from published
reports pertaining to oceanic ferromanganese deposits, including Russian, since 1891.
Data were compiled under the direction of Professor Jean-Marie Monget of Ecoles de Mines, Paris
through 1976 and contain data for nearly 200 marine core, dredge, and grab samples. Data
include method of analysis, oxide/item/element concentrations, location, water depth,

The USGS/WHOI Continental Margin (CONMAR) Data set was compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as a joint program of study of the Atlantic continental margin of the U.S. The CONMAR set contains information for 3,715 cores, dredges, and grab samples, and consists of 18 files of grain size analyses/statistical parameters, composition of clay, sand, gravel and carbonate fractions, organic contents, heavy mineral and x-ray analyses, radioactivity counts, and major chemical and trace-element analyses.

From 1983 through 1992, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) compiled a comprehensive, computerized bibliography of offshore marine mineral deposits as a cooperative effort with the Ocean Minerals and Energy Division of the NOAA National Ocean Service, and the Office of International Activities and Marine Minerals (INTERMAR) of the Minerals Management Service (MMS). In October of 1992, the NOAA and MMS Marine Minerals Bibliography (MMBIB) was released as a compact disc.

Historic Marine Geologic data reports available are from academia, government, and non-U.S. sources. These reports were originally in paper or film form and were scanned to Portable Document Format (PDF) to enable online browse/download and archive in digital form.

The Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) operated the D/V GLOMAR CHALLENGER from 1968-1983, drilling 1,112 holes at 624 sites worldwide. The DSDP was funded by the US National Science Foundation and several foreign countries through the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES), and was operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.