An initial examination would take place in a “science hut” constructed on the sea ice before the sample was boxed up and sent to the core lab at Scott Base (named in honor of Captain Robert Scott, who led two British expeditions to the Ross Sea). U.S. Navy helicopters, Dodge Power Wagons, and sleds pulled by a crawler tractor transported a total of 41 boxes of samples to the base, where readings for seismic velocity and gas composition were taken. Studies concerning sedimentology, geochemistry, foraminifera, and radiolaria (microscopic animals that produce mineralized skeletons, which are a major part of sea-floor sediment) were subsequently carried out.