GUN SAMPLING TUBE

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 February 1937, Page 12

GUN SAMPLING TUBE

INTO FLOOR OF OCEAN. An ocean bottom sampler _ which drives a ’hollow tube deep into the ocean floor, like a kitchen corer diving fifth the -heart of an apple, has been designed and tested by Dr. Charles A. ’Piggot,' Of Cafiiegie Institution, Washington, jfor Studying the ocean bottom iniih. / The heights Of ’the wrinkles on this old “apple called “earth.” interest Dr. Piggcit ’not at-ail, but just as the geologist studies the ‘rock strata in order : tb ! iearh ! tKe conditions existing on the earth thousands of years ago, so as an ocean bgrapher he hopes to study qcesth conditions Of the past as disclosed by'’tlie bottom sampler, coring •through stratifications of ocean mud. Already it has .'been learned that the Wcrltl’S most precious mineral, radium, Is abundant in the ocean bed as com.parefl with land rocks. But instead of opening a radium mine, Dr. Piggot is most interest in learning how the ocean obtained its radium, and how it whs separated from Its parent material, uranium. z For more than two years now, Dr. Piggot has ‘been developing his apparatus. Primarily it consists of a “gun” of cold rolled steel, 10 inches in diameter and inches long, to the lower end of which a steel tube, the “bit,” is attached. The bit is two and a quarter inches in diameter and the largest is 10 feet long.

The gun is so constructed that a cartridge loaded with gunpowder can bo inserted. When the apparatus is lowered, contact with the bottom releases a mechanism which causes an explosion that drives the bit into the ocean floor. Lining the bit is a thin brass “sample tube,” which can be removed easily when the apparatus is drawn to the surface, and replaced by an empty sample lube in preparation for the next venture. Opportunity to test the apparatus under severe conditions came last May, through the courtesy of Western Union Telegraph officials, who. invited Dr. Piggot to accompany the Lord Kelvin, largest of the cable repair ships, on a trip to the North Atlantic, where a, break in one of the trans-Atlantic cables had occurred. \ ELEVEN SHOTS ARE MADE.

The course of the Lord Kelvin lay between Newfoundland and Ireland with the break in the cable about twothirds of the way across. Two shots were made off the Grand Banks and subsequently on the voyage, 11 vertical cores were- obtained, two from the region where the cable was picked up for repair. South of the Irish coast, on the way to Falmouth, a. twelfth attempt was made al. 2000 fathoms, but a wire rope broke and the bit was lost. Based on the tests, however, it is believed that after certain minor changes have been made, the apparatus will function satisfactorily to any depth it may be sent.

Heretofore, the samples obtained from the deep ocean bottom have been “grab samples." a more handful Of mud taken from the top surface of the bottom. These samples give information of present -conditions only and disclose nothing of past events. But. the Piggot sampler brings up a vertical core in its original undisturbed condition and upon removing the brass sample tube this is tightly corked at both ends and kepi f< ;• examination in th- laboratory. Opening the tube, i has been found! desirable lo cut it ioi itudimilly into -unn! ravts. This i: iom in mb way that when the two parts are spread | out hinge fashion, each contain:.; an un-

disturbed half-portion of the core, sample. One of these halves in its original case can thus be kept for reference. purposes, while the other can be used for such studies as may be. desired. Asserting the interest of many fields of research in bis cores, Dr. Piggot said: — “The marine biologists and micropaleontologists will find in them the remains of marine organisms which liied ages ago in the water above. These organisms change in character, from level to level of the core, reflecting their development and the changes of type brought about by changes in the water temperature. Thus it may be possible to state that throughout a certain period in! die past Ihe water was much colder or ~.. .. ; n that portion of the ocean. Or it may be shown that it was shal-lo-.’-r or a nv-re lagoon, or deeper.

! “The sc.dimentologist by a study jof the minerals and the size of rock | particles will be able to trace the direction anti possible force of ocean currents through past ages. The chara< ter of the sand and pebbles determines the presence of ice or the proximity of land where only ocean exists to-day. “Some chemical and mineral constituents are of great significance, as for instance the fluorine and chlorine and other acid or basic radicals; also the metals such os manganese and iron often found in great concentration. “The only record of the history of the existing' ocean lies buried at the bottom. Whether this record will be easy or difficult to decipher, voluminous or meager, remains to be ascertained. but. whatever its nature it is now accessible to ns for study for the first time.”