Use of Vibratory Coring Samplers for Sediment Surveys

Abstract

Source: https://erdc-library.erdc.dren.mil/jspui/The vibratory coring apparatus was developed about 30 years ago by Soviet engineers to increase existing capabilities to penetrate and recover cohesionless soil samples. In 1963, the original Soviet design was used by personnel at Alpine Geophysical Associates, Inc., to fabricate a system to recover 20-footlong (6 meters) cores for use in CERC's sand inventory program, later known as the Inner Continental Shelf Sediment and Structure (ICONS) program. The core apparatus has since been improved to recover up to 40-foot-long (12 meters) continuous cores in water depths to -60 feet (-18 meters), and is now widely used in oceanographic work. The CERC experience consists of more than 1,600 cores collected in 15 surveys along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts, as well as Lake Michigan and Erie. This experience in obtaining, handling, and sampling cores for sedimentological analysis is presented to aid others in conducting geologic and engineering studies using the vibracore