Confirmed sample acquisition

The real-time display at the logging unit confirms proper tool operation and sample acquisition. The MSCT tool is run in combination with a gamma ray tool to correlate with openhole logs for accurate, real-time depth control of the coring points. Each sample is isolated in the tool for positive identification, and a summary output at surface lists all samples with the exact depth and time that each was taken.

Preserved sample integrity

Because sidewall cores can be drilled from a wide variety of lithologies—hard, brittle igneous rocks to friable sandstones, cemented carbonates, and ductile shale plays—they avoid the damage associated with percussion coring tools.