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Drilling successful from ROV Ventana

May 4, 1993

Cores of granite and deformed sediment from the walls of Monterey Canyon were successfully recovered from December 30 to 31, 1992, by Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's (MBARI) Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Ventana using a small-diameter, double-barrel drill with a diamond bit. This HSTR (Holloway-Stakes-Tengdin-Rajcula) drill was developed to drill cores horizontally from sulfide/sulfate walls of active black smokers. The drill was first successfully used by the submersible Alvin in October 1991 to drill into massive sulfide chimneys, on the Juan de Fuca Ridge (Eos, June 30, 1992, p. 273), and it was subsequently used with equal success on the chalcopyrite-rich chimneys from 21°N and 9°N on the East Pacific Rise. The recent December dives, however, marked the first time that drilling has ever been attempted from the smaller ROV and the first time coring into the harder igneous rock substrate has been attempted.

Publication Year 1993
Title Drilling successful from ROV Ventana
DOI 10.1029/93EO00275
Authors D.S. Stakes, James A. R. McFarlane, G. Leon Holloway, H. Gary Greene
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Eos Science News
Index ID 70243548
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
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