mathematics

Glomar Challenger

Glomar Challenger is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Glomar Challenger rather than just read about it. In short: The Glomar Challenger was a deep-sea research and scientific drilling vessel designed for oceanography and marine geology studies. It was used in the Deep Sea Drilling Project for obtaining sediment cores from the ocean floor.

Key takeaways

Glomar Challenger belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Glomar Challenger to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Glomar Challenger from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Glomar Challenger was a deep-sea research and scientific drilling vessel designed for oceanography and marine geology studies. It was used in the Deep Sea Drilling Project for obtaining sediment cores from the ocean floor. The drillship was designed, owned, and operated by Global Marine Incorporated (now Transocean) specifically for a long-term contract with the American National Science Foundation and University of California Scripps Institution of Oceanography. It was built by Levingston Shipbuilding Company in Orange, Texas, and launched on March 23, 1968. Glomar is a truncation of Global Marine, while the name Glomar Challenger is a tribute to the 19th-century oceanographic survey vessel HMS Challenger.

Purpose The Glomar Challenger was built to help Harry Hess test the theory of seafloor spreading, which predicts that the age of rock samples increases with distance from the mid-ocean ridge.

Accomplishments Starting from August 1968, the ship was embarked on a 15-year-long scientific expedition, the Deep Sea Drilling Project, criss-crossing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between South America and Africa and drilling core samples at specific locations. When the age of the samples was determined by paleontologic and isotopic dating studies, this provided conclusive evidence for the seafloor spreading hypothesis, and, consequently, for plate tectonics. During 1970, when doing research in the Mediterranean Sea while supervised by Kenneth Hsu, geologists aboard the vessel brought up drill cores containing gypsum, anhydrite, rock salt, and various other evaporite minerals that often form from drying of brine or seawater. These were the first solid evidence for the ancient desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea, the Messinian salinity crisis.

Fate and legacy In November 1983, after 15 years in operation, the Glomar Challenger's active duty ended, and she was later scrapped. Her successor, JOIDES Resolution, was launched in 1985.

See also Glomar Explorer Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Ocean Drilling Program Glomar Challenger Basin Scientific drilling Offshore drilling Continental drift List of research vessels by country

References Notes

Bibliography Hsu, Kenneth (1987). The Mediterranean Was a Desert: A Voyage of the Glomar Challenger. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02406-5. (About the campaign that discovered the salt residues under the Mediterranean.)

External links

Glomar Challenger: Drillship of the Deep Sea Drilling Project Ships of the World: Glomar Challenger Archived 2006-03-07 at the Wayback Machine USGS CMG Platform (Glomar Challenger) Data and Metadata

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Glomar Challenger

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Glomar Challenger claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Glomar Challenger before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Glomar Challenger ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Glomar Challenger

In research: Glomar Challenger appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Glomar Challenger in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Glomar Challenger is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1968 ships, IMO numbers, Research vessels of the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Glomar Challenger outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Glomar Challenger” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Glomar Challenger in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Glomar Challenger means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Glomar Challenger out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Glomar Challenger in simple terms?

Why does Glomar Challenger matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Glomar Challenger?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Glomar Challenger.