Ship for scientific drilling

Journal Article · · Oceanus; (United States)

OSTI ID:6898092

Peterson, M N.A.; MacTernan, F C

Now virtually synonymous with scientific deepwater drilling, the Glomar Challenger drillship has entered its 14th year of service in the Deep Sea Drilling Project, which is coordinated by the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES) and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The Glomar Challenger was the first fully automatic dynamically positioned vessel of its kind; it has an initial drillstring length of 22,500 ft and a 23,000-ft automatic horizontal racked-pipe capacity. The 1 million lb drilling tower's effective maximum pull is 600,000 lb. Four computer-controlled thrusters hold the ship in position without anchors in water as deep as 20,500 ft. After a worn-out bit has been replaced, high-resolution sonar scanners locate a re-entry funnel on the seabed and guide the drillstring over it. In its 82 cruises, the Glomar Challenger has drilled 932 holes at 564 sites and recovered 16,801 cores.

• Research Organization: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA
• OSTI ID: 6898092
• Journal Information: Oceanus; (United States), Journal Name: Oceanus; (United States) Vol. 25; ISSN OCEAA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420206* -- Engineering-- Mining & Drilling Equipment & Facilities-- (1980-1989)
COMPUTERIZED CONTROL SYSTEMS
CONTROL SYSTEMS
DESIGN
DRILL CORES
DRILLING
DRILLING EQUIPMENT
EARTH CRUST
EQUIPMENT
EXPLORATION
EXPLORATORY WELLS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
OCEANIC CRUST
OFFSHORE DRILLING
PERFORMANCE
RANGE FINDERS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SHIPS
SONAR
WELL DRILLING
WELLS