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The rock corer is a device that collects volcanic glass from the
surface of young lava flows on the seafloor. The head of the
corer consists of a series of cups with sharp edges that are
filled with a thick wax. The rock corer is lowered to the
seafloor very rapidly and hits the hard surface of the lava. As
it does so, chips of volcanic glass are broken off and stick to
the wax.
When the corer is recovered, the wax containing the glass chips
is removed from the cups and is then heated to melt the
wax. Scientists can then pick the glass chips out of the liquid
and take them back to shore for analysis in their laboratories.
[Summary provided by "Dive and Discover"]
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