Piston & Gravity Corers (MKS)

M.K. Services can offer a wide range of piston and gravity coring systems, Vibrocoring systems, and ancillary equipment such as hydraulic recovery chutes and core storage racks.

To support these systems we can also supply coring consumables, such as liners, cutters and core catchers.

A summary sheet can be downloaded below.

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2171 Gravity Corer (Mooring Systems Inc)

The Gravity Corer is a general purpose tool for obtaining sediment cores in reservoirs, harbors, lakes or oceans. Cores are 67mm (2 5/8 inches) in diameter and as long as 1.5 meters (5 feet) depending on sediment strength. The Model 2171 corer is constructed of galvanized steel with stabilizing fins to assist straight bottom penetration.

A watertight valve at the top of the core liner prevents washout of the sample while the corer is being raised to the surface. A stainless steel core catcher at the bottom of the liner has flexible fingers that allow the core to pass through but not slide back out. The galvanized steel barrel completely encloses the core liner to protect it from damage. A removable manganese bronze nose cone provides the cutting edge.

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2172 & 2175 Piston Corers (Mooring Systems Inc)

The Model 2172 Utility Piston Corer obtains virtually undisturbed core samples up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) long, and the Model 2175 Medium Weight Piston Corer will take up to a 3 meter (10 foot) long core, whilst the Large Piston Corer is used to take essentially undisturbed sediment cores up to 15.2 meters (50 feet) long. Originally designed to be used in the deep ocean, piston corers have been used successfully for harbour, river and bay studies.

With piston corers, a trigger release mechanism trips when the pilot weight contacts the ocean floor, allowing the corer to free fall to gain momentum and increase penetration. The barrel of the corer penetrates the sediment while the special piston remains just above the sample. The piston helps draw the sample into the core liner to reduce core compaction, and a stainless steel core catcher retains it.

An optional safety arming device locks the trip arm until a preset depth, where the elasticity of the wire absorbs the shock of a rolling ship, eliminating premature tripping.

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Boomerang Corers (Mooring Systems Inc)

The Boomerang® Corer is a free-falling sampler designed to take sediment cores from the bottom without use of cable connections to the ship. It recovers deep ocean cores without the expense of long on-station ship times required for wire-lowered devices. The corer can be dropped overboard from small or large vessels without winch or deck equipment. The rapid fall rate of the corer allows a sampling accuracy usually impossible with lowered corers because of subsurface currents and drift of the ship. The high impact velocity of the corer results in less disturbance than samples retrieved by traditional gravity coring devices. The corer is a valuable survey tool that can be deployed during profiling operations without stopping the survey vessel.

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