The N/O Marion Dufresne is a multi-purpose boat with two main functions :

-   Logistic of French southern islands Crozet, Kerguelen, Amsterdam, Saint-Paul,
-   Oceanographic research.

Thanks to its other abilities, the N/O Marion Dufresne is one of the best scientific boats in the world.

  Characteristics :

-  Length : 120.50 m.
-  Width : 20.50 m.
-  Draught : 6.95 m.

  The cruises by the N/O Marion Dufresne cover many domains of Oceanography, taking a variety of samples and doing diverse analyses.

-   Marine geosciences (including Geology, Geophysics, Sedimentology, and Paleoclimatology) : acoustic soundings, bathymetry, and coring.
-   Biologic and Biogeochemical Oceanography : pelagic filets, dredging, take water samples by "rosette", and CTD measurements.
-   Physical Oceanography (including Phys-Chem, Water Mass Dynamics) : Water current tracking and deployment of measurement buoys.

  General information on CALYPSO corer :

The CALYPSO is a giant corer that uses a Kullenberg piston. It was developed by Y. Balut (IFRTP) aboard the N/O Marion Dufresne. It is considered the most practical and useful corer for obtaining marine sediment cores and can retrieve cores can be up to 60m long.
The CALYPSO corer is composed of :

- "L’ogive",
- A steel tube body,
- A ballast and "ballast hanger ",
- A release mechanism.

  The piston is used to ensure that the corer's internal pressure conditions are constant throughout its length, to minimize the deformation of the sediments. However, it happens that the piston undergoes an acceleration toward the top during the coring. This acceleration creates a depression in the interior of the sediment. This creates a "syringe" effect, whereby the sediments near the tube walls suffer a distortion. The corer's behaviour can be followed with the help of a tension-meter. The force applied by the corer on the cable decrease after the release, and then increase during the extraction of the corer from the sediment.