BGS image ID: P001457 |
Each length of drilling pipe is raised by the hoisting system consisting of the crown block and travelling block. When the joint appears the drillstring is wedged in place in the drilling floor by using slips (so it is not lost down the hole) then the two sections of pipe are unscrewed. The drawworks can be seen behind the drilling pipe. It is the winch that raises the travelling block through the crown block. Unscrewing and stacking drilling rods while pulling out. This process is required when changing the drilling bit or when taking a solid core. The latter is very time consuming and therefore costly as the full drillstring needs to be retrieved for each length of core.
Date taken: 1955
BGS old photograph number: C04247
BGS image ID: P001460 |
Date taken: 1955
BGS old photograph number: C04250
A major scientific borehole is currently being drilled NOW in the Scottish Borders. The project is called TWeed - Tetrapod World: early Evolution. It is a collaboration led by the University of Cambridge with members from BGS, National Museums Scotland, University of Southampton and University of Leicester. The aim of TWeed is to discover the missing links in how modern species evolved from 359 million year old limbed vertebrates, the tetrapods, the so called 'Romer's Gap' in the fossil record.
Updates on the drilling can be found on the TetrapodWorld blog.
Bob McIntosh
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