Data are contributed by sources from around the world and were originally collected for a variety of purposes, including academic research, international and interdisciplinary scientific projects, commercial mineral resource evaluations, defense, and government environmental baseline studies. Geologic data are available for over one hundred thousand cores, grabs, dredges, and drill samples covering most of the world's oceans. WDC MGG, Boulder also offers gridded total sediment thickness data from ocean basins and sidescan sonar image data. The WDC for MGG, Boulder is constantly compiling bathymetry from around the world. NGDC operates the International Hydrographic Organization's Data Center for Digital Bathymetry and actively participates in several international mapping projects.
Some data sets have on-line search systems for direct subsetting and download.
Most digital files are offered for FTP transfer. Twenty institutions currently contribute to the Index to Marine Geological Samples database, containing information on seafloor samples in their collections that are available for further study. Participants are from the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. The WDC for MGG, Boulder offers the Index to Marine Geological Samples Database on Internet with a graphic interface providing data viewing and download in several formats. Information on how to contact participating curators is included.