Recovering Fossils from Underwater Caves

In this report we describe an airlift equipment used for collecting fossil material from an underwater cave in Central Brazil. The airlift system is composed of a gas fueled engine connected to a hard plastic pipe that brings the sediment up to the surface and to a thinner hose that pumps compressed air into the pipe. The pipe and the hose are 200 meters long and have a copper opening. The hose opening penetrates the pipe opening and has dozens of small holes. The compressed air is blown through these holes provoke a turbulence resulting in a pressure differentiation that brings to the surface water plus sediment. This system has proved to be very effective bringing the material undamaged from up to 40 meters depth.