Sea bed sediment samples and nodules collected by HMS Challenger and HMS Bulldog

Made:
1860-1876 in Indian Ocean

Sea bed sediment samples and nodules collected from various sampling locations around the world by the HMS Challenger expedition, 1872-1876, and HMS Bulldog, 1860.

In 1860, the paddle steamer HMS Bulldog was conducting telegraph survey operations around the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland, collecting samples from the sea bottom to investigate the feasibility for a new submarine cable to be laid. The soundings suggested that there might be living organisms at great depths, fuelling an ongoing debate about whether the deep sea did harbour life or whether it was azoic.

The Challenger Expedition (1872-1876), organised by the Royal Society and UK Hydrographic Office, circumnavigated the globe in order to study the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the deep sea. Culminating in a series of detailed scientific reports, the expedition has sometimes been claimed to be the origin of modern oceanography. HMS Challenger, after which the expedition was named, was captained by Captain George Strong Nares; Scottish naturalist Charles Wyville Thomson led the six-man scientific team.

Prior to the expedition, HMS Challenger was specially fitted out in order to accommodate the many thousands of specimens and samples collected en route. Geological samples collected from the sea floor, such as this one, were carefully labelled with information about the depth and location from which they had been gathered.

Manganese nodules collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

Manganese nodules collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Manganese nodule collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

Manganese nodule collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sectioned manganese nodule collected by HMS Challenger, 1875

Sectioned manganese nodule collected by HMS Challenger, 1875

1875-09-16
Sample of red clay collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

Sample of red clay collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

unknown
Sample of Pteropod ooze collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

Sample of Pteropod ooze collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of diatomic ooze, collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

Sample of diatomic ooze, collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample ‘concretion of globigerina ooze’ collected by HMS Challenger, 1874

Sample ‘concretion of globigerina ooze’ collected by HMS Challenger, 1874

1874-09-26
Samples of globigerina ooze collected by HMS Bulldog, 1860

Samples of globigerina ooze collected by HMS Bulldog, 1860

1860
Sample of surface layer of Globigerina ooze collected by HMS Bulldog, 1860

Sample of surface layer of Globigerina ooze collected by HMS Bulldog, 1860

1860
Sample of small manganese nodules collected by HMS Challenger from the South Pacific Ocean, north of Tahiti, at a depth of 2350 fathoms, on 16 September 1875. Collection site was station 276, at latitude 13°2.8’S and longitude 149°30’W.

Sample of small manganese nodules collected by HMS Challenger, 1875

1875-09-16
Sample of ‘Chocolate clay’, collected by HMS Challenger from the South Pacific Ocean, south of Tahiti, at a depth of 2385 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 281.

Sample of ‘Chocolate clay’collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘Pteropod ooze’, collected by HMS Challenger from the western Atlantic Ocean, north of Culebra Island, West Indies, at a depth of 390 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 24.

Sample of ‘Pteropod ooze' collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘wet globigerina ooze’, collected by HMS Challenger from the South Atlantic Ocean, between Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, at a depth of 1990 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 338.

Sample of ‘wet globigerina ooze’ collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘blue mud’ collected by HMS Challenger from the South Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 1900 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 323.

Sample of ‘blue mud' collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘red clay’, collected by HMS Challenger from the South Atlantic Ocean, north of the Sandwich Islands, at a depth of 2950 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 256.

Sample of ‘red clay’, collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘red clay’, collected by HMS Challenger from the Pacific Ocean, south of Hawaii, at a depth of 2900 fathoms, 1872-1876.

Sample of ‘red clay' collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘Globigerina ooze’ in dry condition, collected by HMS Challenger from the South Atlantic Ocean, south west of St Helena, between Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, at a depth of 1990 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 338. Globigerina is a genus of planktonic Foraminifera; shells of these tiny animals dominate vast areas of the deep sea floor.

Sample of ‘Globigerina ooze’ collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘blue mud’, collected by HMS Challenger from the Western Pacific Ocean, south of Mindanao, Philippines, at a depth of 2050 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 213.

Sample of ‘blue mud' collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘Globigerina ooze with many radiolarians’, collected by HMS Challenger from the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Tahiti, at a depth of 2425 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 271. Globigerina is a genus of planktonic Foraminifera; shells of these tiny animals dominate vast areas of the deep sea floor.

Sample of Globigerina ooze collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘Globigerina ooze’ collected by HMS Challenger from the Pacific Ocean, Western Caroline Island, at a depth of 1850 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 224. Globigerina is a genus of planktonic Foraminifera; shells of these tiny animals dominate vast areas of the deep sea floor.

Sample of 'Globigerina ooze' collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘red clay’ collected by HMS Challenger from the Pacific Ocean, north of Tahiti, at a depth of 2350 fathoms, 1872-1876.

Sample of ‘red clay’ collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘Agulhas shoal’, collected by HMS Challenger from the ocean off the coast of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, at a depth of 200 fathoms, 1872-1876.

Sample of ‘Agulhas shoal' collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘volcanic sand’, collected by HMS Challenger from the Atlantic Ocean near Tenerife, at a depth of 78 fathoms, 1872-1876.

Sample of ‘volcanic sand' collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘radiolarian ooze’ collected by HMS Challenger from the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and Tahiti, at a depth of 2350 fathoms, 1872-1876.

Sample of ‘radiolarian ooze’ collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876
Sample of ‘diatomaceous ooze’, collected by HMS Challenger from the ocean between the Kerguelen Islands and Tasmania, at a depth of 1950 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 157.

Sample of ‘diatomaceous ooze’ collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876

1872-1876

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Details

Category:
Oceanography
Object Number:
1893-112
Materials:
sand, mud, clay (unfired) and bone (animal)
type:
geology samples
credit:
Royal College of Science (Geological Laboratory)

Related Objects

Sample of ‘Globigerina ooze with many radiolarians’, collected by HMS Challenger from the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Tahiti, at a depth of 2425 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 271. Globigerina is a genus of planktonic Foraminifera; shells of these tiny animals dominate vast areas of the deep sea floor.

Sample of Globigerina ooze collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876
Sample of ‘Globigerina ooze’ collected by HMS Challenger from the Pacific Ocean, Western Caroline Island, at a depth of 1850 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 224. Globigerina is a genus of planktonic Foraminifera; shells of these tiny animals dominate vast areas of the deep sea floor.

Sample of 'Globigerina ooze' collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876
Sample of ‘red clay’, collected by HMS Challenger from the Pacific Ocean, south of Hawaii, at a depth of 2900 fathoms, 1872-1876.

Sample of ‘red clay' collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876
Sample of ‘blue mud’ collected by HMS Challenger from the South Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 1900 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 323.

Sample of ‘blue mud' collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876
Sample of ‘red clay’, collected by HMS Challenger from the South Atlantic Ocean, north of the Sandwich Islands, at a depth of 2950 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 256.

Sample of ‘red clay’, collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876
Sample of ‘wet globigerina ooze’, collected by HMS Challenger from the South Atlantic Ocean, between Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, at a depth of 1990 fathoms, 1872-1876. Collection site was station 338.

Sample of ‘wet globigerina ooze’ collected by HMS Challenger, 1872-1876