APPENDIX II: SHIPBOARD SCIENTIFIC PROCEDURES 451 APPENDIX II - SHIPBOARD SCIENTIFIC PROCEDURES CONTENTS Introduction Glomar Challenger and Her Capabilities Ship Operations Procedure for Handling Cores Time Stratigraphic Framework Well Logging Scientific Records INTRODUCTION to the understanding of the Initial Reports that the The original Core Description Manual, which is used reader should have a general knowledge of the proce- aboard the drilling vessel Glomar Challenger in carrying dures followed on board ship, the basis for the out the programs of the Deep Sea Drilling Project is an various methods used and, where necessary, the limita- extensive and detailed work representing the cummu- tions or inadequacy of these methods. The following lative efforts of many individuals, notably those of the contribution has been prepared with this in mind. JOIDES Advisory Panel on Sedimentary Petrology and the JOIDES Advisory Panel on Paleontology and Bio- A large part of the reference material which appears in stratigraphy. The JOIDES Advisory Panels on Well the biostratigraphic section of the Core Description Logging, Interstitial Water, Heat Flow, Paleomagnetism, Manual is unpublished material supplied through the Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, and Information generosity of many recognized authorities on the Handling have also contributed to the original com- various fossil groups. It is therefore not possible for us pilation. Working with these groups have been many to present this information in detail here. The paleon- other individuals. tological content of this summary is, therefore, limited to a statement of the time-stratigraphic framework The Core Description Manual performs a threefold drawn up by the JOIDES Advisory Panel of Paleonto- purpose: that of briefly informing participants in the logy and Biostratigraphy and within which the ship- Project about the facilities available to them; that of board paleontologists have worked when preparing defining the laboratory procedures to be followed in their descriptions. order to achieve a measure of uniformity in core de- scription and investigation; and, thirdly, as a source of THE GLOMAR CHALLENGER reference material, particularly for the paleontologists. AND HER CAPABILITIES The vessel used in the Deep Sea Drilling Project, The purpose of the present presentation is to place in Glomar Challenger, is a specially designed drilling the public domain a short account of the facilities of vessel having a length of 400 feet, beam of 65 feet, the drilling vessel, Glomar Challenger, the operations and draft of 20 feet. She is a completely self-sustaining carried out at sea, and the procedures followed in the unit carrying sufficient fuel, water and stores to enable shipboard laboratory for describing the core materials her to remain working at sea for 90 days without re- recovered. Experience has shown us that the details of plenishing. On site, she is capable of handling drill laboratory procedures vary from cruise leg to cruise string lengths of up to 22,500 feet (6860 meters), leg, as experience is gained and techniques are refined. her performance generally being limited to a maximum There would appear then to be little value to the general water depth of 20,000 feet (6096 meters) and a maxi- reader in spelling out in detail techniques followed for minimum penetration into the sea bed of 2500 (762 me- a particular procedure. However, it is clearly important ters). The drilling propulsion and positioning equipment 452 are diesel-electric powered, and the twin screws give stations and is normally updated several times each her a cruising speed between sites in excess of 12 day. The NNS System is operated by the Navy knots. Special features of her design particularly valu- Astronautics group headquartered at Point Mugu, able for deep-sea drilling include a dynamic positioning California. The system's satellites continuously re- equipment with a computerized control system, a tank transmit the orbital information back to the ship on stabilizing system, and satellite navigation equipment. ultra stable carrier frequencies. The user remains com- pletely passive and merely receives the transmitted Dynamic Positioning signals. The Model 4007AB collects the orbital infor- Glomar Challenger is the largest commercial vessel mation, measures the doppler shift and makes this data afloat to be equipped with dynamic positioning. The available to be fed directly into a PDP 8S computer positioning system employs four tunnel thrusters, two for position-fix computation. This system enables in the bow and two aft, each of which is capable of Glomar Challenger to fix her geographical position producing 17,000 pounds of thrust. The tunnel thrust- with accuracies better than one tenth of a nautical ers are mounted transversely and, operated in conjunc- mile anywhere in the world, day or night, regardless tion with the ship's main screws, they enable her to of local weather conditions. move in any direction. While on site, four hydrophones are extended below the hull. They continually receive Drilling Equipment signals transmitted from a sonar beacon implanted on Situated amidships is the 142 foot, Global Marine de- the ocean floor. The signals are fed into a computer, signed derrick, which has a hook load capacity of which on the basis of the delay times of the arriving 1,000,000 pounds. Immediately forward of the derrick, signals calculates the position of the ship relative to the is the automatic pipe racker, which can carry 23,000 beacon. The computer automatically controls the feet (7010 meters) of drill pipe, with below-deck thrusters and main propulsion unit to maintain the space for additional storage. ship's heading and location over the hole. The dynamic positioning system has both computerized and manual controls. Experience so far, has shown that under Office and Laboratory Facilities normal operating conditions it is easily possible to In general, all living spaces and office and laboratory maintain the ship within 80 feet (24 meters) of the facilities are air conditioned and acoustically insulated. desired location for periods as long as six days. In addition to laboratory facilities, a library lounge, office space, drafting room, and electronics laboratory Stabilizing System are available. Laboratory facilities are housed in a sep- arate structure installed on the floor of the casing The gryoscopically controlled tank stabilizing system rack. The upper laboratory is at the same level as the is located amidships. This system substantially reduces rig floor and has access to the rig floor via a catwalk. the vessel's motion. Experience has shown that vessel This laboratory is designed for core receiving and roll or pitch is not a problem, provided the roll or general processing. It, therefore, contains equipment pitch does not exceed 5 degrees half amplitude and if for X-radiography, GRAPE (Gamma-Ray Attenuation the period of the roll or pitch is not short. To date, Porosity Evaluator), natural gamma, and sonic velocity the vessel motion has not been the determining factor measurements, and for splitting and describing core in drilling being curtailed due to weather conditions. sections. On the bottom level of the laboratory struc- ture, the paleontology and chemistry laboratories are Satellite Navigation System situated with their appropriate equipment for handling The satellite navigation system is an ITT Model 4007AB; micropaleontological samples and interstitial water this is one of the first commercially available navigation chemistry. Running from the upper laboratory down instruments to offer all weather world-wide operation. through the laboratory structure into the core-storage It provides the ship with access to the precise naviga- area is an electrically driven dumbwaiter with access to tional information which is continuously transmitted both laboratories and to the storage area. This is used from the satellites of the U.S. Navy Navigation Satel- for the transportation of cores and supplies. Situated lite System (NNSS). at an intermediate level are a photographic laboratory, a dark room, and a small laboratory for the preparation This system consists of four satellites in polar orbit, of thin sections. Eight refrigerated storage vans main- tracking stations, injection stations and a computing tained at a temperature of about 3°C. are provided in center. The tracking network tracks every pass of every the cargo hold of the ship for core storage. Cores are satellite and measures the doppler shift very precisely. accumulated in these storage vans and then are off- These data are transmitted to the computing center loaded at convenient ports for shipment to the shore where they are used as the basis for computation of repositories on the East and West Coasts of the U.S.A. predicted satellite orbital information. The orbital in- The vans are also used for temporary storage of sam- formation is transmitted to the satellite by the injection ples while on board the vessel. 453 I • ^ /* V βJF m/β^w MLÜ Tft;— »§f •: .. ' i ,1 pr U/L• m \ \Λ W~ΛVF ^EV'\ Plate 1. KEY BRIDGE DECK (ELECTR. LAB) SUPERSTRUCTURE DECK (CAPTAIN, DRILLING SUPERINTENDENT) BOAT DECK (SCIENTIST QUARTERS, COMPUTER ROOM) POOP DECK (CREW QUARTERS, MESSHALL, GALLEY) MAIN DECK (CREW QUARTERS, SHOPS, STORES) PILOT HOUSE ELECTRONICS LAB, RADIO ROOM CORE LAB PHOTO LAB, DARKROOM, THIN SECTION LAB MICROSCOPY LAB, CHEMISTRY LAB CORE VAN STORAGE DERRICK DRAWWORKS SHELTER AUTOMATIC PIPE RACKER THRUSTERS (2 FWD; 2 AFT) POSITION SENSING HYDROPHONES (TOTAL OF 4) 15 Figure 1. Glomer Challenger. SHIP OPERATIONS lined metal barrels through the drill string and after the Underway Surveys core is cut recovering them with a half-inch sand line. Two sand line reels are situated on the derrick When cruising between drilling sites, oceanographic floor for this purpose. After recovery, the filled plastic data are collected by a magnetometer and an air gun. liners are extracted from the core barrels and the core A bottom profile is also taken with a precision depth material is handed over to the scientific party for pro- recorder.