The purpose of the multicore is to recover the sediment-water interface. They are deployed in sets of eight attached to a frame, and allowed to settle gradually in the sediment. In order to determine how well our proxies estimate bottom water properties, data collected on the top sediment are compared to measurements made on the water collected directly above.  

(1) Removing one of the eight new cores from the multicore tube

(2) Transferring to a plastic tube for transport back to lab

(3) Transfer completed, labeling for analysis back at the lab

A gravity core is a relatively short core (3 meters) used to study the Holocene (11,000 years to present) and in this case to determine whether the site will be suitable for long coring.  Gravity cores are typically analyzed because they preserve the top meters of the sediment better than long cores. 

Top: (1) Gravity core being deployed (2) team preparing to cut core to actual length (3) Core cutter at freshly cut core top 

Bottom: (4) Lowering recovered core to the main deck (5) Removing the core catcher (device that prevents the core from falling out the bottom) (6) Cutting the core into sections (7) Sampling core at section tops

The long coring system is the most notable core type aboard. This highly technical system allows us to recover cores that are 30-50 meters long, about the height of a 10 story building.  Scientists use these cores to study sediment that can be hundreds of thousands of years old.

(4) Sectioning (“slabbing”) the “E” core half cm by half cm for analysis at the lab

Column 1: Long core being recovered from coring site alongside Knorr ~ Column 2: (top 2) Deployment control panel and operator (bottom) Loading the PVC pipe core liner ~ Column 3: (top) Recovering the acoustic release mechanism (“dog dish”) attached to the long core (bottom) Recovering the piston ~ Column 4: (top) Self-buoyant line used to deploy long core (bottom) Core liner ready to be loaded