Sampling of Marine Sediments

April 18, 2013

Why do you need to know Marine Sediments ?

to know the characteristics of seabed soil

by knowing the soil characteristics, you will know what kind
of foundation do you need for constructing the coastal or
offshore structure
Need to know where the hard soil or rock layer is
The foundation or pile has to reach the hard soil or rock
layer in order for the piles to be stable
Piling for Offshore
Structure

Bottom of pipes
Air Gap = 5 ft API RP2A
Wave Crest

HAT

SWL
wave
Overturning Moment LAT
current Dominant
Base Shear Dominant

Piling
Piling for Offshore
Structure

Piles are driven on

Offshore
Structure until they
hit the hard rock
layer
Sampling of Marine Sediments
What kind of Environment you are Sampling ?
What kind of Environment your Sampling represents ?
How to retrieve Sediments ?
Samplers : Instruments to retrieve Sediments
Samplers : Drill Ship
Samplers : SCUBA Divers
Samplers : Piston Core
Core : Sediment Sample
Samplers : Box Corer
Samplers : Hydraulic Damped Multi-Corer
 Samplers : Giant Gravity Corer

6 m Core Length
 Samplers : Jumbo Gravity Corer

12 m Core Length
Samplers : Piston Corer

Partial Full
Free Fall Penetration Penetration Hauling in

Weight

Corer

Trigger
Weight

Trigger Line
Samplers : Piston Corer
The corer is attached to
the ship using a steel
cable

The corer is driven into the seafloor

by heavyweights attached to the top
of the core tube steel cable

Seafloor Surface

Layers of sediments on
the seafloor corer. At
deep sea, accumulation
of layer at about 1 cm
per 1000 yrs

A hollow steel tube with a plastic

innertube. The stell tube is pushed
into the seafloor and is filled with a
sample down through the layers of
sediment
Samplers : Jumbo Gravity Corer
Samplers : Grabbers or Dredger