Over 2500 feet, a new recovery record for the project, and weathered sand

Today we processed rock core to a depth of 2468 ft, and the rock delivered at the end of the day carried us over the 2500 ft mark.  The drilling has been going so well lately that the past 24 hours produced a new record of 120 ft recovered in a single day! 

Above is a picture of some interesting sand that was recovered recently.  We have seen a couple intervals of loose, black sand but this sand is lighter and more coherent (it will still crumble if you aren't careful handling it!).  My hypothesis is that low-temperature chemical alteration and growth of secondary minerals within this sand has both lightened its color and cemented it together somewhat.  Perhaps deeper in the hole we will find sand that has been compacted and cemented enough to call it sandstone.