Workshop on Requirements for Robotic Underwater Drills in U.S. Marine Geoscience Research
Abstract
At present, subsurface hard rock samples and sediment cores deeper than ~30 m must be acquired using a drill ship, but a drill ship has severe limitations: high cost, limited availability, and poor performance in some lithologies. Many marine geoscience studies require more sampling than can be provided by the drill ship, samples from those problem lithologies, or samples from locations where the drill ship cannot go. Robotic underwater drills may help satisfy this need. Twenty-five scientists and engineers, representing a variety of academic institutions and scientific interests, met on November 3 and 4, 2000, to discuss how to bring about the ready access to robotic underwater drills for scientists engaged in academic research. The workshop considered what science programs would benefit from robotic drills, how many drills of what specifications are needed, and how such drills should be supported. The consensus was that there is a widespread need for a several drills. Most scientists wish for a Robotic Ocean-Bottom drill (ROBO-drill) that can core 50-100 m below the seafloor, with either rotary diamond bits or hydraulic corer, and retrieve cores >5 cm diameter from water depths up to ~4500 m. Although this big ROBO-drill has the widest application, attendees also favored three "niche" drills with different configurations. On the smaller end, there is a need for mini-ROBO-drill that is simple, can work in deeper water, is easily shipped and maintained, and would likely have a single core barrel 1-2 m in length. This drill would be for projects in which small penetration is adequate but cost is a primary concern. An ROV-based drill is also needed, attached to a widely available platform. With high maneuverability and excellent imaging capability, the ROV-drill would be the equivalent of a geologist roaming the seafloor with a rock hammer. There also may be a need for a slightly larger, single-barrel drill that can core up to ~5 m depth to reach below small sediment ponds and below weathered zones. This drill would have the advantage of lower weight, size, and cost over the big ROBO-drill. Workshop attendees also felt that the usual model for equipment development, a single investigator or small team, relying on funding from individual projects, is inadequate. A large, expensive ROBO-drill requires a team of technicians and continuous maintenance. This is difficult to achieve on individual grants and probably means that a drill facility is necessary.
- Publication:
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AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2001
- Bibcode:
- 2001AGUSM...V62A05S
- Keywords:
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- 3094 Instruments and techniques;
- 4294 Instruments and techniques;
- 8494 Instruments and techniques;
- 9805 Instruments useful in three or more fields