Geologic
Drilling on Seabrook Island, SC
In July of 2005, The
Geological Survey started a special mapping project in the Rockville
7.5-minute quadrangle, in Charleston County. This photo gallery chronicles one day on
location, in the lower coastal plain, with the drill crew. The
photographs were taken by
Erin Hudson.
We arrived at 6 am to our first drill hole location for the day. This is our view from beautiful Seabrook Island. Senior Geologic Technician, Joe Koch (orange shirt) leads the crew in setting up the drill rig for drilling. The first of many samples to be collected. Geologist, Will Doar, helps out on the short handed crew. Will removes the very sticky contents from the rods. The crew gets back to work after a much needed break. They have already pulled and logged some 40 feet of subsurface sediment. They make this part look easy, but this is no simple task. A 20 foot section of rod weighs 200 lbs, before any sediment is ever attached. Geologic Technician, Quinton Jones, carries the 50 lb, 5 ft sections of rod from the back of the drill rig. The crew watches the drill rig push the rod into the subsurface. They're waiting to attach the next rod to submerge. Will and Quinton carry out another section of sample. Will removes the gray clay from the auger ribs. Close up of the gray clay. The geologist analyzes the samples collected and records their characteristics. The document created is known as a drill hole log. Joe Koch is making sure that everything is running smoothly. This is a dirty job...evident by the mud collecting on his shirt and hard hat. The break between two subsurface units. Will uses a chart to determine the exact color of the samples. A close up of the drill hole. The view, after the this hole was filled in. It's not always this messy. Joe and Quinton take a breather before moving on to the next location. The first hole of the day turned out to be a 90 footer. Our second location of the day. The crew worked with others, making sure that existing infastructure would not be harmed by our drilling. Senior geologic technician, Joe Koch, determines the best place to put our second hole. Geologist, Will Doar uses a handheld magnifying glass to determine grain size and color of the samples.
The sun came out for this hole. Late July in South Carolina is HOT!! We are happy to find out that this hole will only need to be 50 ft deep.
We arrived at 6 am to our first drill hole location for the day.
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