The CASP rock and fossil collections are a growing scientific archive of over 35,000 specimens of international significance. Most of the samples have been collected during fieldwork in often remote areas over the last 30 years. Our sample coverage can be explored in our interactive map, and there is an active program to database our legacy material. There are over 30 different sample types in the collection, but the majority are either mudstones, sandstones or fossils. The samples routinely undergo a range of analytical techniques including, for example:

• Petrography (e.g. point-counting, QXRD, QEMSCAN)
• Conventional heavy mineral analysis
• Mineral chemistry (e.g. garnet, rutile, pyroxene)
• Whole-rock geochemistry (e.g. XRF, ICP-MS)
• Radiometric dating (e.g. U-Pb, Ar-Ar)
• Petrophysical analysis (e.g. poro-perm, MICP)
• Biostratigraphy
• Organic geochemistry (e.g. Rock-Eval pyrolysis, TOC)
• Organic reflectance (e.g. vitrinite, bitumen)

Historically the data was organised by project but is now being brought together for “Big Data Analysis” to tackle the energy transition, including dwindling conventional hydrocarbon resources and carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

Research

The CASP collection is available for future research. Enquiries about the collection are welcome from both industry and academia.

Contact our Geoscience Data Coordinator: Simon Passey

Colin Forbes Building

The collection is housed in a dedicated part of the Sedgwick Museum’s Colin Forbes Building, the construction of which was financially supported by CASP.

Published type and figured specimens have been transferred to the Sedgwick Museum, University of Cambridge. Future published palaeontological material collected in Greenland will be transferred to the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen.

Contact our curator: Simon Schneider