“Air Drill” for Submerged Massive Coral Drilling

Abstract

The handy and inexpensive drilling method using SCUBA tanks was developed specifically for submerged massive coral drilling, which is an effective technique for its annual bands research. All required equipment for 10 m drilling can be packed up into two suitcases, except for the SCUBA tank. This carries the advantage that researchers can bring full equipment in carry-on luggage and can obtain samples quickly at inconvenient or inaccessible locations. A field experiment was successfully operated to obtain 1 m coral cores within 1 hour at a depth of 17 m below sea level.