ABSTRACT

Information from sediment samples taken from the marine environment is required for a wide range of purposes. These purposes range from physicochemical, biological, geological to engineering/marine geotechnology. The type of drilling and sampling equipment that will provide this information will be controlled by a combination of the following: (1) the purpose of taking the sediment sample, (2) the depth of water, and (3) the depth below the seabed. In this chapter, a core is defined as a vertical column of sediment cut from a parent deposit. By contrast, a core sampler is an instrument for collecting cores.