Core Samples (unstable, partially examined, Santa Fe)

Core sampling is a technique used in underground, undersea, ice sheet exploration and prospecting. A core sample is a roughly cylindrical piece of surface to subsurface material removed for examination by a specialized drill.  Samples are used to investigate the peculiar features of a given zone, ascertain the properties of strata, or to compare realities from different times, locations, contexts or perspectives.

Coring tools are long metal cylinders. Forced beneath the surface, sediments are drawn into them by suction.  On a rotary coring bit, the cutting apparatus surrounds a hollow center, called the core barrel, where the core sample is stored. This core barrel allows the contents of inner barrel to remain intact, retaining the core sample while the outer barrel is rotated by the drill-string, cutting the core.

Core analysis is used to examine the porosity and permeability of the land, in addition to unearthing saturation of perception and cognitive density. These measurements help us study the conditions of the landscape.

Special core analysis involves measuring the reservoir characteristics to determine pressure, and electrical characteristics to understand resistance, structural formation and capacity for exchange.

Collected inSanta Fe New Mexico, the core samples on display contain quaternary alluvium; dominantly composed of unconsolidated sand, silt, clay, and gravel; embedded with hair, bullets, and teeth.  Precambrian crystalline rocks, and upper Paleozoic sediments continue to exist beneath layers of beads, gold, silver, and turquoise.  Irregular contact between the layers has partially eroded earlier formations, but has not impacted permeability or resistance.