The Multiple Corer is universally acknowledged as being the only way of reliably collecting a truly undisturbed sediment sample from the seabed with its ability to consistently collect up to 12 high-quality samples simultaneously, including the sediment-water interface and benthic fauna, meaning it is the primary corer for environmental impact assessment worldwide. The sample preservation is achieved through hydrostatically damping to control the speed of descent of the core tubes into the sediment.

Variations to the standard multiple corer design are available from Ocean Scientific International Ltd. (OSIL) to accommodate customer requests for longer sample lengths and to allow for more compact transportation constraints.

OSIL can extend the corer frame to offer an increased sample tube length from the standard 600mm (most recently for a sample tube length of 1200mm to provide a sediment sample 1000mm long and 200mm of overlying supernatant water), and the corers can easily be fitted with core tubes of varying diameters by swapping out the mounting assembly. The frame of the corer can also be split in two to facilitate shipments where height restrictions are a known issue.

The system is constructed from stainless steel and features detachable core assemblies, which enables the core tubes (or if necessary, the entire core tube assembly) to be removed from the corer for analysis or storage. The core tubes are sealed top and bottom once the sample has been taken, allowing rapid retrieval of the corer without jeopardizing sample integrity. Delivery times for the corers and spares are low, meaning last minute cruises can be catered for and systems can be kept in constant use for many years.

Learn more about OSIL’s sediment coring equipment.