Hover Probe 2000- A New Tool for Drilling in Modern Depositional Environments
Analysis of groundwater flow systems and estuaries are important strategies to defining flow and storage of materials through natural systems.
It is low tide. The driver maneuvers the craft easily from open water across a mud flat and comes to rest on a slightly higher sand bar. The motor is shut down, a small auxiliary power plant is started and drilling commences on a site that could not be reached by boat, truck, or foot. As the drill rods are advanced, the driller measures and records the amount of cumulative compaction occurring with each run until the depth of refusal is reached. Then the core barrels are systematically retrieved and the core, safely inside plastic sleeves, is logged, capped, and taped to preserve the sediments and the pore water. The whole process might take a little less than an hour for a single, thirty-foot core hole.