At the Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education, we are grateful that since 2009, the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program has provided us with crucial funding for research. NGGDPP funding helps MGRRE, part of the United States Geological Survey, carry out its legislative mandate to archive geological samples and make them available to all stakeholders. This funding has been used to rescue cores that were at risk of destruction, preserve and inventory those cores, preserve and inventory cuttings, convert paper records to digital data and make this unique data available on-site and online at both MGRRE and on the United States Geological Survey's National Catalog. Prior to the NGGDPP, there was no national set of protocols and procedures for such collections.
A particular point of pride for the staff at MGRRE was having one of our recent projects exemplified as a success story at NGGDPP. This story details how cores rescued at MGRRE, originally drilled as part of oil and gas exploration, led to the rediscovery of a large potash deposit in Michigan. Samples from those cores were assessed and provided the sole source of data that proved the quality of that deposit.