Deep-sea Core Boring by BMS in Northern Mariana Area

摘要

Since 1975, Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ) has been surveyed of mineral resources on deep-sea floor: manganese nodules, submarine hydrothermal deposits and cobalt-rich manganese crust deposit. For more effective survey, Deep-sea Boring Machine System (BMS) has been developed by MMAJ. BMS has capability of 20m coring under 6,000m in water depth. The size of BMS is 3.6 meters wide, 4.4 meters long, 5.5 meters high and the weight is 4.5 tons in air. BMS has three legs and can keep the upright position up to 20 degree inclination. This paper describes the outlines of BMS and the result of core boring at the maximum depth of 1986m in Northern Mariana Area.