Collaborative Research: A Sea Test of the PROD Seafloor Drill

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79912345GoldfingerThis award to Oregon State University in collaboration with University of Washington will provide support to test instrumentation for oceanographic research, specifically a seafloor drilling system, PROD, that if successful will allow sampling of sediments to depths greater than 100 meters subbottom with minimal disturbance in a variety of water depths and substrates. The system, built and operated by Benthic Geotek, Ltd., is designed to operate from a variety of multipurpose oceanographic research vessels, substantially increasing opportunities for acquisition of drilled material, which is presently accessible to most US marine researchers only via the Ocean Drilling Program drillship JOIDES Resolution. The PROD system uses fiber-optic technology to control a bottom-mounted drilling system, and it includes capability to use hydraulic piston coring, a technique to acquire samples with little disturbance in unconsolidated sediments, as well as rotary drilling, which allows penetration of harder sediments and rock. The testing supported here will be the first time the system is operated in deep water, as well as its initial operation from a US academic research vessel. Any samples obtained during the test program will be archived at Oregon State University for future investigation by interested researchers.***