Drilling for an ocean core requires the deployment of drilling equipment and eventual retrieval back to the drill floor located on the stern of the vessel. The entire process is a wonder to watch, precision with massive, wielding clanking pipes of steel. These men in orange safety suits work as if choreographed by the finest dancers, their music the pounds and clanks of pipes and continuous humm of motors. The incredibly talented and alert drill team work together to move thousands of pounds of metal pipes that thread together to form the drill string. Teaser Photo credit, Adam Stinton, 340 Volcanologist

The drill floor: Hard hats, goggles and ear plugs, everyone! The drill pipe is a pipe that surrounds the core sample and core liner. It has a drill bit at the bottom that drills through the rock to make the core. The drill string on the JR is a column of pipes that transmit drilling fluid (via the mud pumps) and rotational power to the drill bit at the bottom. Tripping the pipe means raising or lowering the drill string. More on the the rest of the drilling process later… choosing the right coring barrel. Photo credits, IODP Photo Library

 

JR Core Journey from Rig Floor to Core Receiving Deck to Core Lab (really nice narrated video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC9lDPvvze0&feature=related