A Novel Sediment Pressure Sampling Device Carried by a Hadal-Rated Lander

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Mainly well examined sentences are there in the text.  Some revisions, however, are necessary.  Some careless mistakes are necessary to change.  Please check the following parts.  All parts are highlighted in yellow in the marked PDF.

Additional descriptions and changes must be taken place prior to the publication.

1. Revise the word “core rate.” in Line 18. The word is used only once here in the text.  None can imagine any relationship with the main body of the text.
2. Purpose of the simulation and methodology of the simulation must be described in detail. Because of large deformation of hadal sediment during the sampling process is expected, the effects of the structural parameters such as the installation position and the open diameters to the sample lengths are simulated.  However, the most important point, the large deformation is expected, does not mentioned in the text.  In addition, the purpose of CEL, to overcome the difficulty of FEM analysis, does not mentioned.  Without these descriptions, it is difficult to understand the background of the study.
3. Add detailed descriptions of the legend of Figure 5(a) and Figure 8. In case of Figure 5(a), nothing is visible because all the legends are too small.  In case of Figure 8, without no description it is hard to understand the legend and the figure itself.
4. Add a detailed description of sampling process by using Figure 2. Figure 2 is not used in the text and the sampling process is not clear.  Functions of the sampling cylinder, the connecting rod, and the cone are difficult to imagine.  If the sediment is squeezed into the sampling cylinder through the bottom end surface of the core keeper s and the upper end surface of the sampling corn, it should be strongly explained in the text.  Without this kind of description, an easier understanding is difficult.
5. Change the name of “field test” used in Lines 173, 174, and 175. The test place is in air and only sediment layer is underwater.  The situations are not like the actual field.  The test is a kind of experiment.
6. Names used in the Figures 9 and 10 must be the same as Figure 1. No device rod, petals, cone head, and pressure-holding cylinders are there in Figure 1.
7. Function of the stop plate in Figure 10 should be described.

Editorial changes are recommended prior to the publication. 

1. Change the family names of authors of Ref. 11 in Line 245. Their first names are given as family names.  Kawasaki, M., Umezu, S., Yasuda, M. are correct.
2. Change the unit of megapascal from mpa to MPa in Line 76. More popular is MPa.
3. Unify the word “opening diameter” or “open diameter.”
4. Some careless mistakes are marked in yellow.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This paper describes a prototype core system. However, it is promoting itself on being for ‘hadal sediments’ but does not ever define why or what they are.  The only thing making hadal sediment different from any other sediments is the high pressure.  This design promotes itself as being pressure retaining but does not at any point demonstrate it can hold pressure. Therefore I fail to see what the novel aspect of it is at this point in the development. To be a hadal corer it needs to demonstrate it can core very fine sediment and hold them at least 600 bar pressure, preferable 1100bar to be truly hadal.  It mentions this in paragraph starting L99 but does not demonstrate this at all.

Title: The title suggests this is for ‘The Hadal-Lander’ which is a British vehicle that has no such corer and there are no plans to put one on. Perhaps better to say “a hadal-rated lander” to show they do not mean the specific British one.

L26 – Change “the analyze” to the “analysis of the sediment”

L27 Maybe change Primitive to pristine?

L29 ‘at pressure’ not ‘with pressure.’

L29 I do not understand the context of the word ‘domestic’ here

L30 space needed between In and 1983

L47 et al should be et al.

L48 Abegg citation at the end of sentence (“….hydrates [14].

L52 space between 2.5 and m (same in L52)

L55 Luo citation needs to be at the end of the sentence.

L59 Do not use phrases like “ and so on…”

Intro-General: There is no justification as to why is this for hadal sediments, what are hadal sediment? Within any given trench the sediment range from very very soft, to hard, to clay to sand, therefore there is no such thing as ‘hadal sediments’. The only different between all the types of hadal sediment and the equivalent at abyssal depths is the ambient water (and pore water) pressure. All this need to be explained in the introduction.

67 Do not start a section with a figure.

Figure 1 – ‘Sensor’ does not need to be capitalised.

L70 Change to “it is a new method of pressure sampling and is currently at a prototype stage…”

L85 change to “hard metal tube” but do you mean think rather than hard. If it is a metal tube then one would expect it was hard (L88 too)

L99 “are different” not is different.

L100 a hadal lander, not the hadal lander.

L101 delete ‘to move’

L110 No capital in During.

L123 space between CEL and (Coupled…

L135 no full stop between Figure and 5, no capital at In

L155 space between 148.3 and mm and 12 and mm. Check throughout document (also L153 0.6 and s)

L175 field? Not filed.

L176 space between 9, and the

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Well revised version this is.  The following minor editorial changes are recommended.

1. Check the sentence structure from Line 141 to 145. Two capitals in the sentence without periods are strange.
2. Replace the legends in Figure 5 to outside of the meshed and colored area.
3. Other two minor mistakes are marked in the PDF.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx