As coring operations are completed at a site, the Co-Chief Scientists, Staff Scientist, and Curator (SAC) prepare a final sampling plan based on original and revised sample requests. The shipboard Curatorial Representative is responsible for preparing a complete cruise sampling plan at the end of the leg.
ODP technicians will assist in shipping items home. Detailed information will be provided near the end of the cruise.
For all shipments, complete addresses are required and post office boxes cannot be used. The recipient must ensure that correct phone numbers and the name of a contact person are provided to the ODP staff preparing the shipment and that the contact person will be available on the receiving end, since express courier shipments often arrive at the destination before the returning scientist.
Samples/personal items sent to non-U.S. destinations are normally dispatched via express courier service. It is important to provide the name of the international airport and the airport code that is located near the shipping address. Note that the recipient is responsible for clearing items through customs in the destination country. Shipments bound for destinations outside the U.S. will be sent via freight importer in the destination country, which minimizes potential problems and delays (critical for some samples), if non-U.S. participants can provide the name of the freight importer customarily used by their home institution.
Shipments sent to U.S. destinations may be sent via air freight or surface freight, depending on the transit times. It is important to provide complete contact information to the ODP staff preparing the shipment. Additional information may be requested if required. Shipments from foreign ports to U.S. addresses will be sent via ODP/TAMU's agent in Texas and then forwarded to their final destination.
ODP should be advised of shipments requiring special handling (e.g., refrigerated, or frozen samples) as early as possible, if possible even before the beginning of the leg. In the case of shipments requiring special handling it is especially important that correct phone numbers and the name of a contact person are provided to the ODP staff preparing the shipment and that the contact person be available on the receiving end. Shipments requiring special handling are sent to all destinations via express courier services (DHL, Federal Express, Airborne, etc.).
U.S. participants may send one "personal box" from the ship with the regular ODP/TAMU freight. The box can contain only work clothes, boots, books, toiletries, or similar low-value, nonvital items. Please do not include food, as an insecticide is added to the shipping container. The maximum size box allowed is 12 in x 18 in x 6 in. Every personal box sent from the ship to the U.S. must be accompanied by a completed U.S. Customs form 3299 (available on board); the form requires, among other information, exact departure and return flight information of the sender. If changes in return scheduling occur, it is the responsibility of the owner to notify ODP Material Services (979-845-5780) and supply the correct information immediately upon return to the U.S.
All shipboard and shore-based participants who receive ODP samples or data during the first 12 months postcruise are required to submit one of the following: a manuscript to the Scientific Results volume for the leg or a manuscript related to leg objectives or to a related discipline to an internationally recognized peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes in English. See the ODP Sample Distribution, Data Distribution, and Publications Policy at www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/policy.html.
A Scientific Results volume is a collection of peer-reviewed papers presenting results of postcruise research relating to the aspects of scientific drilling from a leg. Publication of results in this volume fulfills the individual's obligation for participating in the cruise. An SR volume may contain regular scientific papers, data reports, and/or synthesis papers. The SR volume is distributed ~4 yr after the cruise. Scientific Results volumes are published electronically on CD-ROM and World Wide Web formats and are no longer printed on paper.