Detailed discussions of seismic profiling techniques are found in 

 Ewing (1963), Hersey (1963), Van Reenan (1963), Miller, Tirey, and 

 Mecarini (1967), Moore and Palmer (1968), Barnes, et al. (1972), and 

 Ling (1972). 



c. Coring Techniques . The sea floor coring device used is a pneu- 

 matic, vibrating piston-type coring assembly designed to obtain core 

 samples of 6-meter (20 feet) maximum length and 10-centimeter (4 inches) 

 diameter. The apparatus consists of a standard steel core barrel with 



a pneumatic driving head attached to the upper end of the barrel, a 

 plastic inner liner, a shoe, and a core catcher. These elements are 

 enclosed in a tripodlike frame with articulated legs which rest on the 

 sea floor during the coring operation. The separation of the coring 

 device from the surface vessel allows limited motion of the vessel dur- 

 ing the actual coring process. Power is supplied to the pneumatic vibra- 

 tor head by a flexible hoseline connected to a large capacity, deck- 

 mounted air compressor. After the coring is completed, the assembly is 

 winched on board the vessel where the liner containing the core is removed, 

 capped at both ends, and marked and stored. The historical development of 

 vibratory coring equipment is discussed by Tirey (1972) . 



d. Processing of Data . Seismic records are visually examined to 

 establish the principal acoustic features in the subbottom strata. Record 

 data are then reduced to detailed cross-sectional profiles showing the 

 primary reflective interfaces within the subbottom (see App. A for seismic 

 profile data for this study) . Selected acoustic reflectors are mapped to 

 provide areal continuity of significant reflective horizons. Where pos- 

 sible, the reflectors are correlated with core data to provide a measure 

 of continuity between cores and to establish the lithologic character of 

 reflection units. 



Cores are visually inspected and described aboard the vessel, then 

 delivered to CERC where the cores are sampled at close intervals by drill- 

 ing through the liners and removing parts of material. After preliminary 

 analysis, a number of cores are split longitudinally to show details of 

 the bedding and changes in stratigraphy. 



Core samples are examined under a binocular microscope and described 

 in terms of gross lithology, color, mineralogy, and the type and abundance 

 of skeletal fragments of marine organisms (see App. B for core descrip- 

 tions in this study). Granulometric parameters (e.g., mean size, sorting) 

 for many samples are obtained by using the CERC Rapid Sand Analyzer (RSA) 

 which is analogous to that described by Zeigler, Whitney, and Hays (1960) 

 and Schlee (1966). Appendix C lists the granulometric data for selected 

 samples from the North Carolina cores. A constituent analysis of sedi- 

 ments from the study area is in Appendix D. 



Forciminifera from selected ICONS core samples were mounted on micro- 

 paleontology slides for identification. The identification of all the 

 types present was beyond the scope of this study. However, the compiled 

 species list (App. E) is considered detailed enough for the purposes 



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