Annotated record of the detailed examination of an Mn deposit from the Pacific Ocean

A German coring device (Reineck, 1958) has been improved to obtain oriented, undisturbed cores at any depth of water. The samples are rectangular in shape, 8 × 12 inches in plan and a maximum of 18 inches high. Good cores have been obtained from clayey material as well as from gravelly sand. No disturbances due to coring were observed on the collected samples. These large samples make it possible to conduct many varieties of investigations, such as study of living organisms and shear strength measurements, as soon as the sample is on deck of a ship; radiography on slices, peeling and impregnation techniques, granulometry, mineralogy, porosity, fossil content, etc. Construction and use of the box corer and applications of some of these analytical techniques are described.