27 July 2014, by Matt Shupe [78N, 138E]:
Core slicing
I played in the mud today. Well, I guess the more technical term for it is core slicing. At many stations along our course the “multi-core” is sent down to the sea bed, sinking in and extracting short sediment samples in 3” diameter tubes. Once on the ship, some of these must be sliced into different layers and put in bags for later analysis. I get the feeling that those tasked with this job are not always so eager to do it! But for me, it is an opportunity to learn about an entirely different way of taking samples (mine are done remotely, with little dirt on the hands!). The slicing process entails pushing a coring tube down onto a little stand that exposes thin layers of the core. Spatulas are used to slice off 1-cm-thick layers to be put in bags or sample vials. We found a worm in one layer, and a small star-fish on the top. The mud was a little looser at the top but consolidated deeper in the core to fairly consistent clay. It is fairly straight forward work, but all of that bending over can be a pain in the back.
