Multicore Mission

Deck crew and scientists deploy a multicore from the stern of the research vessel Neil Armstrong recently. The multicore is designed to collect up to eight core samples of the seafloor, while carefully preserving the interface between water and sediment. It is one of three coring systems on board the ship for the cruise. The others are a gravity corer and a long-core system, which are made to forcefully penetrate the seafloor and gather samples. The cores give scientists a look at chemical changes in the ocean over hundreds of thousands of years and, hence, a record of Earth’s climate. (Photo by Mariko McNamara, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)