On behalf of a consortium of universities, the College of Oceanography at Oregon State University will undertake development and construction of piston and gravity coring capabilities for the new R/V THOMAS THOMPSON that is operated by the University of Washington. The basic deck lay-out of this new ship that will commence research operations in late 1991, was intended to accommodate a long-core handling system. A deep ocean, long-core handling system will be designed and built based on systems successfully used on other U.S. and German research vessels. The corer will be able to routinely retrieve large diameter (11.5 cm) 30 meter long cores. This capability is important for ongoing and planned global ocean and other research projects.
