The Geological Sciences Bureau of the UT Jackson School of Geosciences received $1.5 million for the safekeeping of 1,500 tons of geological cores and cuttings.
The center is expected to receive more than 2 million boxes of geological material from the Chevron Corporation over the course of the next year.
The majority of the cores will be housed at the bureau's Houston Research Center, one of its three facilities, and will become part of the largest collection of geological cores and cuttings available to the public in the United States.
"Having that kind of gift of rock volume is like opening a library that has never been seen by the public," said Scott Tinker, director of the bureau.
The bureau, established in 1908, researches for the University, the State Geological Survey and the Regional Lead Organization for the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council.
Geological cores and cuttings consist of portions of rock and earth removed during gas and oil exploration. These cores allow researchers to create a time line of the Earth's biological and climatic history.
Cores that don't seem relevant today might provide valuable information in the future, if well preserved, said J.B. Bird, spokesman for the Jackson School.
The collection, which was originally intended exclusively for Chevron's employees, will now be available to students, geologists and scientists.
Mishal Al-johar, a geological sciences senior, said he believes the samples could be valuable to UT students, especially those in the graduate program.
"Core samples are basic sources of information that you use in your introductory classes," he said.
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