SIO, one of the first U. S. institutions to undertake large-scale collection of sediment cores, has historically been a leader in core curation. The Sediment Core and Microfossil Collections contains samples collected from as early as 1916. William R. Riedel became the first Curator of Geological Collections in 1955. He began to gather private collections, dating back to the early 1900s, and created a cohesive, well documented collection that has continued to the present day.
The Microfossil Collections contain many reference samples from studies that have become classics in geological literature. Materials include stratigraphic samples from William R. Riedel and Annika Sanfilippo(radiolarian biostratigraphy), M. N. Bramlette (nannofossil stratigraphy), Fred Phleger/Frances Parker (foraminifer taxonomy and environmental studies), Francis Shepard (near-shore geological processes) and Wolfgang Berger (isotopic studies on foraminifers leading to the understanding of ice-age climatic changes).
Today, the Cored Sediment and Microfossil Collections are a growing archive of sea-floor samples and associated data supporting a diverse variety of scientific research.