Research Fall 2010

Intern, Ceseley Haynes, sorting through samples

This semester has in fact been a busy one for the project. The blog wasn't utilized as much as last semester, but in the future can be a key component in communication between the Italy and Virginia Tech site. While last semester was a semester of organization, this semester was used to sort through many of the samples that were sent over to VT. A lot more samples were sent this semester, which means that a lot of samples had to be sorted through before data analysis could take place. I helped sort through these samples. Overall, I individually processed 12 core samples. Sorting involved filtering through sand, dirt, and other debris to retrieve fauna (gastropods,bivalves,etc.).

Pictured is an example of a drillhole

These samples were also measured and weighed as well as sorted for drillholes. The drillholes were noted, because this in fact can tell us whether predation has taken place.

Thsis semester was crucial in the advancement of the project. After the sorting process takes place, results can be produced from data analysis. There have been a few tentative results produced as of now.