A simple semi-continuous piston corer for organic sediments

A simple semi-continuous piston corer for stratigraphic sampling up to 15 m of organic lake sediments has been developed. The design is flexible so that components can be assembled to suit the depth of core required. For cores up to 6 m, the apparatus is easily deployed from a small boat with the minimum of difficulty. With increasingly long cores, the operational complexity increases. For the designed maximum core depth, two workers on the surface and one SCUBA diver are required to operate the corer. A small stable inflatable boat or raft is required as a platform.The corer is simple to construct, assemble and operate. The total cost of the corer is under $200(US). The individual components of the corer are long (up to 10 m), but moderate weight (up to 86 kg) allows transportation to the lake site by truck, or in remote areas by helicopter.