Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research / Institute Overview

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Welcome to the Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research

   This institute was established in October 2005 in Nankoku City, Kochi Prefecture, as JAMSTEC’s new research site.
   The mission of the institute is to help understand the earth’s activities, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and global environmental changes, by analyzing drill core samples. For this reason, core samples are taken from a wide range of locations, from mountains and highlands created through the earth’s upheavals to deep-sea floors several thousand meters below the surface, accessible only with special vessels, such as the deep-sea scientific drilling vessel “CHIKYU”, let alone habitable areas. Samples may also include ice and sediment from polar regions.
   The use of core samples makes it possible to tackle research tasks that used to be beyond the reach of science. These include taking a peek into the “nests” of earthquakes, exploring the as-yet unknown world of subsurface microorganisms, and taking a glimpse at the impact of the asteroid believed to have caused the extinction of dinosaurs.

Let’s explore answers to questions such as how the earth formed and has become what it is, a planet teeming with life, through the study of core samples.

Dr. Wonn Soh, Director
Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research

External view of the institute

Staff of the Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research/Center for Advanced Marine Core Research, Kochi University.

Three research groups, the Geochemical Research Group, the Geomicrobiology Group and the Earthquake Fault Physical Property Research Group, have been established to conduct drilling science. They are supported by the Science Services Group and the General Affairs Division.

On the first floor of the Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, laboratories housing various analytical equipment are placed around a court. To the west, a single-story refrigerated core repository is located.

The second floor accommodates rooms for researchers and support staff, as well as conference rooms and seminar rooms.