The Swedish Deep-Sea Expedition

sediment. A piston originally at the lower end of the coring tube and attached by an internal wire to the main cable is kept motionless while the coring tube descends around it. Because of the high pressure, the immovable piston immobilizes the column of sediment beneath it as it is cut out by the corer. A view of the piston core sampler suspended alongside the research vessel is shown in Figure 1. In the spring of 1946 the Swedish govern-ment permitted the research vessel "Skagerak" to be used on a trial cruise to the western Mediterranean during which the piston core sampler proved its worth. Cores 8 to 15 meter