An Indigenous Approach to Low Cost Portable Vibracoring in Deltaic Environments

A simple but very effective and inexpensive indigenous method of vibracoring has been developed for acquisition of continuous cores in subaqueous environments at water depths of below 2m. The principal components are the following: 3.5 HP concrete vibrator, irrigation PVC tube, tripod and pulley. The entire system weighs 50 kg. and approximately costs about Rs.25,000/-. This system was operated successfully in the transitional sedimentary environments of the East Coast deltas by collecting around 100 cores averaging to 2 m in length. Sediments ranging from clay to coarse sand have been recovered using this system. Percentage of recovery was usually 60 to 100 and distortion of delicate sedimentary structures was generally minor.