ICDP: Dead_Sea_Daily

Drilling the Dead Sea for history

by Al Jazeera English

The first Sampling Campaign of the Dead Sea ICDP project began this week. Scientists and students from Israel, Germany and the USA arrived, while many more are expected next week, including researchers from Japan and Switzerland. Close to 100 m of core have been sampled so far, for many different projects, such as climatic, paleoseismic, lacustrine, biological, and other studies.	Image of the day.

	Daniel, Will, and Elisa working on the cores at GFZ.

Date	Image of the day	Message of the day
2012-06-25		The first Sampling Campaign of the Dead Sea ICDP project began this week. Scientists and students from Israel, Germany and the USA arrived, while many more are expected next week, including researchers from Japan and Switzerland. Close to 100 m of core have been sampled so far, for many different projects, such as climatic, paleoseismic, lacustrine, biological, and other studies. more ...
2011-03-28		Yesterday the barge was towed back to Arugot (Gonen station) and today the big crane was working on lifting the rig etc. We hope to complete this phase of de-mobilization in a couple of days. more ...
2011-03-25		And now the ICDP Dead Sea project comes to an end. All in all, we have two long cores - one from the center of the lake (455.48 mbsf) and one from near the southwestern shore (346.07 mbsf), and many short cores of a few tens of meters. Jochem and his logging team have finished their work and we are waiting to tow the barge back to Sylvie Gonen's base camp for demobilization. It has been an exciting project that will shed light on some major scientific questions. From all of us here in Israel, thank you and see you in Bremen! more ...
2011-03-20		Coring at Site 3 is going well. We are already at -290m below the lake floor after a few days at work. Some problems were encountered - clogged drill bit, salt or sand that led to a drop in recovery, but the team soon had things under control again and were pulling up core after core. The sun is shining and it is hot in Ein Gedi! more ...
2011-03-01		And we're back! After suspending operations in order to fix the barge, we are set to resume drilling tomorrow (Wednesday). The new site is in very shallow water, which will of course, make things easier. We are expecting a slightly different lithology here as we are very close to the western shore. Perhaps a little more salt in the beginning. Perhaps lower rates of sedimentation. Looking forward to a successful second campaign! more ...
2011-01-18		After a long break while we waited for parts to arrive from the States, we tried to resume operations over the weekend. However, it seems that the problems were not fixed, despite the efforts made by DOSECC and the drill team. A decision was made to temporarily shutdown. Coring at Site 2 will resume on March 1st and continue for around 2 weeks. During the interim period, the engineer that built the rig will be flown in to work out all the bugs. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Beau Marshall, Steve Cole, Rich Szentmiklosi, A.J. Vecchiarelli, Joe Bolin, Joe Hammond and Eli Driggers for their tremendous dedication, hard work and for helping us achieve our scientific goals. We hope to see you back for Stage 2. Special thanks also goes to Sylvie Gonen and the maritime logistic support team of the RV Taglit: Gideon Amit, Dubi Klein, Ofir Zukerman; as well as our spokesperson Avital Baer, the staff at the Ein Gedi Guest House and at the Kibbutz; Yael Dagoni, Elitza Hadzhiivanova, Elisa Kagan, Lisa Coianiz, Ina Neugebauer, Emily Goldstein, Jason Jweda, Paul Neitzel, the enthusiastic student volunteers; the PIs and scientists: Amotz Agnon, Daniel Aritzegui, Achim Brauer, Steve Goldstein, Uli Harms, Gerlad Haug, Emi Ito, Hiroyuki Kitagawa, Yoshinori Yasuda, Yossi Yechieli, Nicolas Waldmann; the logging team: Jochem Kueck, Matxalen Rey Abasolo, Martin Toepfer, and Christian Carnein; and other visitors and friends who put in time and helped us along the way. The list goes on and on ... more ...
2011-01-07		We have suspended operations until Wednesday while we wait for a part to arrive from the States. The weather has turned very dramatic. The sky is purple-gray with rays of light shining through. Last night it poured. As I walk across the salt encrusted beach, where very few (if any) venture, I am amazed at what I find. From dead bugs to strange formations. I leave you for a few days with a picture of hope... more ...
2011-01-05		The barge was towed yesterday to the vicinity of Site 2 and anchored today. It was a long, hard process, but everyone pitched in to help. A very nice example of cooperation between the science crew and the drillers, with PIs Steve Goldstein and Moti Stein and Project Manager Michael Lazar jumping in the water to help Beau Marshall drag the anchor cable to the post onshore. There is a good feeling of expectation as we begin to core again with the night shift. more ...
2011-01-03		Coring is going well. We are at about 375 m below the lake floor (~75m into the sedimentary section) with the target of this hole being ~89 m - i.e. the end of the Holocene and the beginning of the Lisan formation. Recovery has been about 80%. I personally built 4 anchors today with the help of the machine-shop at Kibbutz Ein Gedi. The plan is now to pull up tomorrow and move to Site 2 - opposite the Ein Gedi spa, close to shore (200 m) in a water depth of 20 m. Drilling should go smoother and since it is in a small bay, the lake should be calmer. We will keep our fingers crossed. more ...
2010-12-31		As of 16:00 today, we are at 354 m down in Hole H. Last night they finished drilling without coring to about 40 meters beneath the lake floor to get past the problematic layer. Cores started to come out again, which is good news. The weather is overcast and cloudy. Rain has been falling on and off all day, and it is very dramatic (see picture of the day) but the lake has been calm. Wishing you all a Happy New Year and a great 2011. more ...
2010-12-29		More problems. The weather has not been good to us. The winds and currents have pushed us off-hole and bent the drill pipe.In addition, salt accumulation on the anchor cables is making them heavy and causing problems. After tripping up again, moving to Hole G (!) and tripping down, we are ready to begin once more, but... it was too windy to change the shifts. Night crew were stuck out on the platform again. Frustration has set in and the mood around here is not good. more ...
2010-12-27		Christmas came and went. We decided to give the drillers a little break and shut down operations for 24 hours so they could go to Bethlehem. We hope that it boosted their morale as they were feeling a little worn out and disappointed at loosing the bottom hole assembly again. We are now in hole F. The plan is to drill down to 45 m below the lake floor to get past the problematic unstable zone in the 30's. They will try to extract core using the Extended Nose tool until the container is released from customs. There were some problems with retrieving the non-coring tool during one of the runs yesterday, but the patience and expertise of the drillers paid off and they pulled it up. Bad weather kept the night shift out on the platform again today. Hopefully, they slept well during the day and are ready to get back to work. We just sent out a boat to exchange the science crew. more ...
2010-12-25		Once again, we lost the bit. Something is going on at around 33 m into the sediment. Beau explained that 6 pipes were in the hole when it broke meaning that it failed at the interface between the water and the lake floor. This could be caused by the salt falling around the pipe and gripping it, a deviated pipe from the rig to the seafloor (through the water column) caused by the rig drifting off-hole, or a combination of both. As this was the very last inner-tube for the alien and the HPC, drilling came to a halt. The container with the spare parts is in Israel, but being held up by bureaucratic issues at customs. We gave the drillers 24 hours off to go to Bethlehem for Christmas, which really improved their morale. They went back out today at 13:00 and are planning to trip down to Hole F and begin using the "extended bit" - which can only go through soft sediments (not salt). Hopefully, a Christmas miracle will occur and the container will be released and on its way tomorrow. Merry Christmas from all of us here! more ...
2010-12-24		Another inner-tube was bent when shooting the HPC in Hole D. The drillers think that it may be due to pressurizing the tool too much after it fires. Luckily, they had another emergency tube that was brought from Lake Van, which had a small piece of core trapped in it (very different from the sediments found here!). The weather did not permit a shift change yesterday morning, but a new science team was sent out for the night shift. We brought a small Christmas tree with us and set it up on the barge in front of the drillers' shack - a little token of our appreciation. Since we had to pull out of Hole D, we began Hole E, but 3 meters below the lake floor, in the sediment. HPC was fired without driving it from above with pressure and recovery was good. The day shift reports that they too are getting good runs. We are keeping our fingers crossed. more ...
2010-12-21		There has been a little feeling of frustration in the camp the last few days. Basically since the storm we have not been able to get good recovery. Hole B was lost and Hole C was not going as expected. All indication led Beau and his team to the conclusion the there was still bent pipe in the hole - damage from the storm or from the pressure of waves during the last few days. The loggers went out yesterday during the day shift and confirmed that the deviation was more than 11 degrees (!!) in some sections. A decision was made to pull out, replace all 60 lengths of pipe and begin again in Hole D. This time, the plan is take is slowly and really try to get good recovery for the top 100 m. more ...
2010-12-19		For some reason, coring is not going so well and the drillers are constantly battling to recover anything from the third hole. Apparently, there was also some cave-in this time around. Each run conducted they try something new - changing the core-catcher, the drill bit, adjusting feed, rotation, etc. Nothing seems to be working. Beau went out with the morning shift to try to disassemble the sampling tool and check if there is a problem with it. It could also be that the formation her is much different than that found in the first hole and is the reason for all the difficulties. In any case, the lake was rough today and drilling could not take place until the weather calmed down. more ...
2010-12-18		The lake was a bit wavy this morning, but has calmed down. Recovery in the top section of Hole C has been low due to a number of factors. After loosing the bottom-hole assembly, the drillers were left with one tool liner. A decision was made by head PI Moti Stein not to risk bending the last one on an HPC shot (which could have resulted in a delay of over a week while we waited for the spare parts to arrive), but rather go ahead with the Alien tool from the start. Moti, who is out on the rig today (as he is most days) reports that they have now penetrated a sequence of muds and white laminae, which he hopes is aragonite. more ...
2010-12-16		Well, we moved to the second hole (Hole B) and started coring. The first HPC shot somehow bent the inner-tube of the tool so the drillers switched to the Alien. Recovery has been bad. Out of 21.3 m drilled, only 4.2 were recovered. Beau suggested that chunks of hard salt may be getting caught in the bottom of the pipe (at the drill-bit) causing it to act like a solid bit rather than a coring tool - i.e. it is just drilling away at the muds and clays, without allowing any material to enter the plastic liner. The night shift called to say that they could not latch on to their tool. After tripping up, it was discovered that a weld broke and the entire bottom-hole assembly was lost in the hole. On to Hole C... more ...
2010-12-15		We have begin coring again! Last night's night shift moved the platform over by about 5 meters and tripped down the pipe. The day shift today started coring the second hole (2 runs with the HPC and then drilling with the Alien was the plan). The logging crew are still here and will wait to log at least part of the new hole. The weather has been good. Just a little wind and some waves this morning. It is good to get back to work. more ...
2010-12-13		We are back on the rig! After a very bad storm (the worst on the Dead Sea since 1980) we sent out the night shift last night long with the loggers. The platform was in pretty good shape except for the back end of the drill rig, which had moved (pivoted) by about 50 cm and onto 2 hydraulic lines. Waves? That's 40,000 lbs to move... The day shift today should get the logging finished and the night shift will trip up, move over a few meters and trip down to the new hole. They may get one or two cores done before the day shift, but we should be back in full swing tomorrow morning. more ...
2010-12-12		The storm continues and reached a peak today with extremely strong winds and sandstorms. During the night, the makeshift pier (uni-floats) was blown apart by the wind. The weather is expected to continue like this at least until tomorrow afternoon, although the Dead Sea has its own unique meteorological system that does not behave like the rest of the country. So far, no flooding, which is good news. The laboratory was also covered in a thin layer of sand as it is impossible to keep it out. The logging team decided to take a day trip south - the Timna mines, Eilat and possibly Mitzpe Ramon. The drillers left at about 13:00 as well for a short visit south. more ...
2010-12-11		The storm continues. High winds caused a big dust storm while we were out on a geological excursion, giving our logging team the real desert experience. Nicolas to us to the section on land that is comparable to the 450 m we are drilling in the lake. It will be interesting to compare the two sections in the end. The drillers are anxious to get back to work. We are a little worried about salt buildup on the drill string seeing as it is sitting there without being turned and hope that the pipes will not stick and come up easily. more ...
2010-12-10		Day shift went out as usual to continue logging. We are expecting a very big storm and they are predicting 100 km/h winds on the Dead Sea. Our head of marine operations, Gideon Amit, called everyone back from the platform, both loggers and drillers, as a safety precaution. Everyone is waiting to see how this develops and hope that it will not present much of a delay. more ...
2010-12-09		The Weather has been acting up lately. Strong winds left the drilling crew's night shift stranded for about 26 hours. They are back and loggers went out, but may also be stuck. Gamma ray measurements were completed, but they ran into a bit of trouble when they started to trip up the drilling pipe. more ...
2010-12-07		Drilling operations have stopped! The bit is too worn out (drillers) or clogged (Moti) to continue. No science crew went out this morning. The loggers are arriving tonight and will begin work tomorrow. Depth at the close of yesterday's night shift (December 6th) was 455.48 beneath the lake floor. more ...
2010-12-06		Coring has been going slow lately. The drillers think that the Alien tool is worn out. However, Moti has suggested that perhaps it is just the hard clay layer we are coring through at the moment - it could be clogging up the tool and blocking it. The logging team will arrive tomorrow evening and a decision will have to be made whether to continue at this slow pace and hope to penetrate through this layer, or to pull out of the hole and begin logging. Yesterday's day shift pulled up a little more than 3 meters in total. Steve called to say that they had penetrated wood, which was probably washed into the lake during a flood some 400,000 years ago. The weather was a bit stormy last night and this morning. Drilling was postponed until the winds died down. Although it looks calm, the Dead Sea can be a very nasty place. The weather can turn within a few minutes and the water can get pretty rough. Due to the extra density and weight that each wave caries (an additional 30%), they can pack quite a punch! more ...
2010-12-02		Close to 400 meters. Drilling continues last night as levels of H2S dropped beneath dangerous levels. The clay zones encountered are hard and it is difficult to get it out of the core-catchers. A thin gravel layer was drilled between 365 and 369 mbsf according Drilling Operations Manager Beau Marshall. Yesterday morning there was a small earthquake in the northern Dead Sea (3.5 om the Richter Scale) not too far from the drilling site. more ...
2010-12-01		We're at about 350 meters beneath the lake bed. Still having problems with the drilling mud. The drillers have cut back to four cups per tank (they used about 10-16 cups in Lake Van!). Even at this amount, it is turning hard quickly. Ein Gedi Emergency Rescue Team conducted a drill yesterday and tested their equipment. All is good. We lost our laptop on the drilling rig when coffee was accidentally spilled on it. Another setback tonight - near the end of the day shift, the H2S monitor went off-scale. Operations were suspended while we look to bring in an expert for advice. more ...
2010-11-30		A little about the logistics of this project. The Dead Sea is located about an hours drive from Jerusalem. On the one hand, this is convenient. If something is needed, it can be bought easily enough. On the other hand, it is not like other projects where the teams are flown in, driven to some remote place and are there for the duration of the project. The rig is located some 8 km from the shore (in a north-east direction). It takes our support vessel, the Taglit, almost an hour each way to reach it. This causes some problems with the meal schedule, but for the most part, the people in the Ein Gedi guest house are more than obliging. In fact, they have been really supportive and it is a pleasure to work with them. Despite some technical problems, the rate of coring is impressive and everybody is in a good mood. more ...
2010-11-29		We have reached a depth of 300m! There have been some slow downs due to hard salt layers and problems with the drilling mud. Apparently, the guar gum reacts too well with the hypersaline water of the Dead Sea and even small amount turn solid quickly. We have a few geochemists working on the problem. The cores coming out have been interesting to say the least. At the top of the picture above you can see a smaller core. It is full of gravel. Not salt, but actual gravel. While this does not mean that the lake dried out, it does imply that the shore was EXTREMELY close to where we are drilling at some time in the distant past. The "wavy" salt patterns in the middle core (the core beneath the one Lisa is holding) could indicate salt flow. Despite some problems and setbacks, the overall feeling is optimistic and positive. This project has been getting amazing press coverage in the local, as well as the foreign media. More updates will follow. more ...
2010-11-22		The first part of the day went well and recovery was pretty good. After a while, a thick (estimated by the driller to be around 50 cm), hard layer of salt was encountered. The piston core could not penetrate it so they brought out the "Alien" - their custom made rotary bit. While it managed to drill through the salt, recovery of the layer and the material beneath it was lost. Switched again the piston and recovery increased in the muds to 100%. The night shift also encountered hard salt, interlaced with marls. We will wait for the report from today's day shift. The second day of the kickoff meeting was held today with most of the foreign PIs on the project attending. more ...
2010-11-17		The rig is together, but we have run into a few delays due to some problems with the motor. If all is well, we can tow to site. Drilling will then either begin with the Thursday's night shift or Friday's morning shift. The weather is good and everybody is itching to get started. more ...