Why do oceanographers study coresamples?

Question

Why do oceanographers study coresamples?

Answer 1

because whats beneath the ocean floor (to a degree) affects the water and life above it. Think about a couple of examples... an underwater volcano just beneath the surface would heat the water above it and provide habitat for a specific type of marine life. Core samples rich in calcium may provide a suitable environment for coral reefs and shellfish.

Answer 2

Cores provide a record of the history of formation of basement, and deposition of overlying strata.  With great luck, deep sea drillers have cored to the basement in places, retrieving a record of the rocks formed at an ocean spreading ridge, or at a hot spot. Above that might be layers of sedimentary strata that contain fossils , information on climate history, information on depositional environments through times. Cores through coral reefs would provide a history of the early part of the reef and later reef building events. In oil bearing offshore areas, cores provide information for determining the best targets for well-drilling.

Added: Examples:

http://marine.usgs.gov/fact-sheets/westc...

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/climate-change/

cores and climate change

Links to some  papers based on core data from the Gulf of Mexico

http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/gom/pubs.html

http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2003/11/

cores find gas hydrates, evidence of landslides, earthquakes