Core Sampling

Name ______Blk ___ Date ______

Core Sampling

Trying to "see" what is beneath the surface of the earth is one of the jobs of a scientist. Rather than digging up vast tracts of land to find fossil evidence, expose an oil field or to find some coal bearing strata, core samples can be taken. These are analyzed to determine the likely composition of the earth’s interior.

Another example of core sampling used for research are ice cores. These are a cylinder-shaped sample of ice drilled from a glacier.Ice core records provide the most direct and detailed way to investigate past climate and atmospheric conditions. Snowfall that collects on glaciers each year captures atmospheric concentrations of dust, sea-salts, ash, gas bubbles and human pollutants. Analysis of the physical and chemical properties of an ice core can reveal past variations in climate ranging from seasons to hundreds of thousands of years. Ice core records can be used to reconstruct temperature, atmospheric circulation strength, precipitation, ocean volume, atmospheric dust, volcanic eruptions, solar variability, marine biological productivity, sea ice and desert extent, and forest fires.

In this activity, you will model core-sampling techniques to find out what sort of layers are in a Swiss Roll Cake. At this point you need to become Swiss Roll Cake “Stupid” – in other words….you need to forget everything you know about Swiss Roll Cakes…Each person will need:

1 Swiss Roll Cake

1 Straw

2 Toothpicks

2 Paper Towels

1. You should place the Swiss Roll Cake on the paper towel. Consider the outside of the Swiss Roll Cake carefully. Pretend you are in a helicopter flying over it and evaluate what you see. Without touching the Swiss Roll Cake, examine it thoroughly. Write down all you have been able to gather from your inspection of the EXTERIOR of the Swiss Roll Cake.

______

______

2. Now describe what you think the INTERIOR of the Swiss Roll Cake could possibly be like. Then, draw what you think the inside of the Swiss Roll Cake looks like. This drawing should be in the circle below. Remember, you need to be “Swiss Roll Cake Stupid” – in other words, you have no idea what the inside of a Swiss Roll Cake looks like – except from your observations of the exterior.

Use this key for drawing your Swiss Roll: Coating Filling Cake

______

______

______

______

3. This is a top view of the Swiss Roll Cake. On the cake outline, indicate ten sites you will be drilling (number 1-10). Spread the sites out to provide a comprehensive sampling to determine what the interior of the Swiss Roll Cake looks like. Also, make sure no samples are taken from the bottom or direct sides of the Swiss Roll Cake.

4. By use of the straws, you will get a better idea of what components and their percentages are inside of the Swiss Roll Cake. This is called core sampling. Slowly insert the straw into the Swiss Roll Cake in the ten different locations you outlined above. Care is to be used while inserting the straw. A small twisting motion is usually effective in slicing through the material as opposed to just jamming it in. Next, pull out the straw with the “sample.” You will need to blow out the sample onto the paper towel. Examine it for the amount of each component – coating, filling, and cake. All samples must originate from the top surface even though angled samples are acceptable. Draw the core samples below:

Use this key for drawing your Swiss Roll Samples: Coating Filling Cake

Sample #1 Sample #2 Sample#3 Sample#4 Sample #5

Sample #6 Sample #7 Sample #8 Sample #9 Sample #10

5. Using the samples, how you would change your original assessment of the interior of the Swiss Roll Cake. Decide if it is filled mostly with frosting or is it primarily cake filling. Does it have any chocolate coating inside? Write down your improved impressions and sketch the “new” interior based on your core sampling research.

Use this key for drawing your Swiss Roll: Coating Filling Cake

______

______

______

6. Now cut open the Swiss Roll Cake to see what the interior is actually like. How closely did your predictions come to the real thing? What surprises have you encountered?

Use this key for drawing your Swiss Roll: Coating Filling Cake

______

______

______

7. How does this activity relate to the actual core sampling done by archaeologists, mining organizations, landfills, well drillers and ice coring specialists? Why would each group named need to do core sampling?

______

______

______

______

______

______