tube and the top of the core will automatically 

 balance the frictional resistance to the core 

 resulting in a true representation of the bottom 

 sediment column in situ. The piston, in effect, 

 provides a suction which overcomes the fric- 

 tional forces acting between the sediment 

 sample and the inside wall of the coring tube. 

 6-27 INSTRUCTIONS FOR OPERATING 

 THE KULLENBERG PISTON CORER.— 

 Originally developed to obtain deep sea cores 

 of 65 feet or more, the KuUenberg piston core 

 is currently employed by the Hydrographic 

 Office in obtaining cores in shallow coastal 

 areas. The modified Hydrographic Office 

 model of the KuUenberg piston corer differs 

 from the original not only in the assembly of 

 the corer but also in the manner in which it 

 is employed. Throughout the remainder of 

 the chapter, all references to the KuUenberg 

 piston corer will be understood to mean the 

 model developed by the Hydrographic Office 

 and not the original. Like the Phleger corer, 

 the KuUenberg uses a plastic liner, but unlike 

 the Phleger and Ewing corers, it does not have 

 a tailfin assembly. 



6-28 Operational Limitations. — Owing to 

 its size and weight the KuUenberg corer has 

 operational limitations which best suit it to 

 vessels equipped with a boom, heavy winch, 

 and wire. The complete assembly of corer and 

 release gear weighs about 400 pounds. While 

 this equipment can be operated from an ocean- 

 ographic winch using %2-inch wire, its use is 

 not recommended in depths greater than 

 1,000 fathoms nor is the free-fall release 

 mechanism recommended for use with wire 

 this light. When operated aboard a ship 

 equipped with an A-frame, certain pre- 

 cautionary steps must be taken which are 

 discussed in section 6-34. 



6-29 Equipment Needed to Operate the 

 KuUenberg Piston Corer. — Three wooden cases 

 are supplied with each corer. The cases in 

 each kit contain the following: 



Case No. 1 : 



8 coring tubes, 4 cutting edges, and 4 

 core catchers. 



Case No. 2: 



4 50-pound cast lead weights. 



Case No. 3: 



2 50-pound cast lead weights. 

 1 main body tube and collar. 



1 piston with Fiege and swivel fittings. 



2 trigger weights. 



1 release mechanism. 

 The corer itself consists of the following parts: 

 1. The mainweight, consisting of a main 

 body tube and several cast lead drive weights, 



H. O. 607 



usually 4 to 6 in number. These leads weigh 

 50 pounds each and are removable. 



2. The coring tube, which comes in 2 sizes: 

 5)^ and llK feet in length. 



In addition to the above, the following 

 components are needed to operate the corer: 



1. A plastic liner, with a 2-inch outside 

 diameter. The length of the liner is 5 feet 

 9% inches when a S^-foot coring tube is used, 

 and 11 feet 9% inches when an ll}^-foot coring 

 tube is used. 



2. A piston, with swivel fitting that at- 

 taches to the end of the lowering wire. The 

 piston is equipped with a single leather cup 

 washer. 



3. A core catcher, whose interleaved springs 

 fit inside the lower end of the liner. The core- 

 catcher springs will allow sediment to enter 

 but not leave the coring tube. 



4. A cutting edge, which holds the core 

 catcher and liner in the coring tube and has a 

 sharpened cutting edge for penetrating the 

 bottom. It is attached to the coring tube 

 with one-fourth-inch Allen head setscrews. 



5. A release mechanism, from which the 

 corer is suspended and which releases it for free 

 fall to the bottom. 



6. A trigger line, used to suspend the trigger 

 weight from the arm of the release mechanism. 

 It should have a suspended length of 17 feet 

 for the 5K-foot coring tube and 23 feet for the 

 llK-foot tube. 



7. A trigger weight, suspended from the 

 end of the trigger line, which prevents the 

 release mechanism from dropping the corer 

 until the weight hits the bottom. The trigger 

 weight is usually a 25-pound sound lead. 



6-30 Spare Parts Needed for the KuUen- 

 berg Piston Corer. — The following spare parts 

 are needed to operate the KuUenberg piston 

 corer : 



1. Piston and swivel. One extra. 



2. Piston leather cup washers. Four extra. 



3. Allen-head setscrews, one-fourth inch. 

 Two dozen extra. 



4. Core catcher. Four extra. 



5. Cutting edge. Four extra. 



6. Plastic liner, 2-inch outside diameter. 

 Enough lengths of liners as needed to conduct 

 the coring program for a survey cruise. One 

 liner is needed for each sample. 



7. Rubber stoppers or plastic caps (enough 

 rubber stoppers, size No. 10, or plastic caps as 

 needed to conduct the coring program for a 

 survey cruise) . Two stoppers or caps are needed 

 for each sample. 



8. Bottom sample jars (enough sample jars, 

 such as ointment or pint mason jars, as 



59 



