Freudenthal, Tim and Wefer, Gerold (2007) Scientific Drilling with the Sea Floor Drill rig MeBo. Scientific Drilling, 5 . pp. 63-66. DOI 10.2204/iodp.sd.5.11.2007.

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Abstract

In March 2007 the sea floor drill rig MeBo (short for
“Meeresboden-Bohrgerät”, ‘sea floor drill rig’ in German)
returned from a 17-day scientific cruise with the new German
research vessel Maria S. Merian. Four sites between 350 m
and 1700 m water depth were sampled at the continental
slope off Morocco by push coring and rotary drilling. Up to
41.5-m-long sediment cores were recovered from Miocene,
Pliocene, and Pleistocene marls. MeBo bridges the gap
between conventional sampling methods from standard
multipurpose research vessels (gravity corer, piston corer,
dredges) and drill ships. Most bigger research vessels will
be able to support deployment of the MeBo. Since the drill
system can be easily transported within 20-ft containers,
worldwide operation from vessels of opportunity is possible.
With the MeBo a new system is available for marine geosciences
that allows the recovery of high quality samples from
soft sediments and hard rock from the deep sea without
relying on the services of expensive drilling vessels.

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