Our mission to deliver globally important science has been a roller coaster of highs and lows over the past few days. We successfully deployed the sea riser (the series of weighted components and steel pipe that connects the ice shelf surface to the sea floor and helps support the drill string) through the 588 m ice shelf, and the ocean cavity, to the sea floor (a total 632 m distance).
We are thrilled with this achievement, a critical and challenging step never previously accomplished through a thick ice shelf, so far from a base or logistical centre.
The drilling team were more than halfway through lowering the drill string down the riser in preparation for coring, when we had to stop operations due to a serious technical challenge. Unfortunately, we could not resolve this issue in the field, and have had to stop drilling operations at the drill site 5072_1 (KIS3) for the season.
We are working at the frontier of logistics and scientific discovery, in an incredibly remote and harsh environment, and with that comes the risk of drilling not going to plan. Our talented team has put in a massive effort to get to this point, and we would have liked to see this effort rewarded with a sediment core from deep below the seafloor.
The geological record we seek is important for humanity, as we strive to mitigate and manage the impacts of climate change. We are proud to have taken on this challenge, and to have progressed closer than ever before.
We now look ahead to our next season at Crary Ice Rise, armed with new insights regarding our technological approach, and undeterred in our mission!
After the night of ‘open hole’ science, it was time to move the ‘big rig’ into place – our AIDD (Antarctic Intermediate Depth Drill). This custom-designed drill rig is a heavy piece of equipment weighing around 2 tonnes, with the power packs, cooler, control panel and hoses adding another two tonnes. It has capacity for both piston and rotary coring, and a mast that extends up to 8.2 m through a flap in the drill tent.
Tracks had already been installed in the floor of the tent to help with the move of the rig. Once the rig was in place, AIDD Offsider Ryan Steadman went up the scaffold to install the pegs in the mast, as it was gradually extended through the top of the tent.
The mast can now be spotted across the camp – it’s an exciting sight to see, as it reminds us that we’re getting closer to our geological drilling!
What better place to spend the longest day of the year than on the continent where the summer sun doesn’t set?
Summer solstice at the drill site 5072_1 fell on 21 December. 24-hr sunlight is useful for 24-hr operations, but takes some getting used to - and some heavy-duty eye masks to help get a good “night’s” sleep!
We were treated to some blue skies and stunning clouds, and even a sun halo, caused by the sun shining through ice crystals in the atmosphere.
It’s ‘open hole’ science time at KIS3. With our hot water drillers having successfully melted a hole through the 588m thick ice shelf, they handed over control of the drill tent to our science team.
In the early hours of the morning the team carried out their first set of scientific measurements. They deployed a gravity corer, a relatively simple weighted coring instrument that utilises Earth’s gravitational force to ram a plastic tube into the sediment.
The team were delighted to obtain a whopping 1.1m core with the first deployment – a fantastic result for this coring technique. This long core was set aside for X-rays and sedimentology analysis, and a second core was sliced for microbiological and ancient DNA analyses.
Brendan Reilly and Tina van de Flierdt carried out the microbiology sampling, working their way through 1cm slices of the core, taking multiple samples from each. This painstaking process also requires careful protocols to avoid contamination from other sources of DNA, so they were suited up in masks, googles, and protective suits.
A custom-built downhole camera was deployed to collect imagery of the ice shelf, ocean cavity and seafloor, and several CTD (Concentration, Temperature and Depth) casts were taken to collect oceanographic data.
All in all a very full night’
We have a full house at ‘Tent City’! The last of our on-ice team landed on the skiway today, on a Basler flight direct from Willy’s Airfield near Scott Base. Science team members Linda Armbrecht (University of Tasmania / ANZIC IODP), Arne Ulfers (LIAG Institute of Applied Geophysics), Yuri Yamazaki (National Institute of Polar Research NIPR) and Luca Zurli (University of Siena), along with hot water driller Stephen Stretch, and Antarctica New Zealand videographer Anthony Powell, were thrilled to make it to camp, after several false starts due to weather.
It’s wonderful to have all the team on site at 5072_1 (KIS3), ready to put in the hard yards to retrieve the sediment core we’re seeking.
In the early hours of the morning, our team of hot water drillers successfully melted their way through 587.96m of the Ross Ice Shelf to reach the ocean cavity below.
Hot water driller Jane Chewings was at the drill console– with the seat made comfortable and toasty with an electric blanket strapped to it – and ably piloted the drill through the final 93m of ice. She was supported by the rest of the hot water drillers night shift team - Tim McPhee and Sean Heaphy.
Co-Chief Scientist Richard Levy, and science night-shifters Molly Patterson and Brendan Reilly were also there to witness the momentous occasion.
This is a crucial step in our project, providing access to climate secrets held in the seafloor sediment below. The hot water drill team will do another pass of the whole with a wider 350mm reamer, and then the hole will be available to the science team for ‘open hole’ science.
It was well-deserved ‘victory toasties’ all round – toasted cheese and salami sandwiches made by Richard.
We have a great team spirit here at the drill site (5072_1), and everyone pitches in to make the camp run smoothly, whether that is helping out with the dishes and sweeping the mess tent, chipping any slippery ice patches that might form in the main thoroughfares, or more ambitious projects like a wind/privacy wall for our outside urinal!
We have a ready supply of building material under our feet. Bricks can be created from snow simply by using a saw and shovel. Skidoos come in handy to tow the bricks from the ‘quarry’ to building site.
Earlier in the season, science team members Molly Patterson and Brendan Reilly, and Project Manager Paddy Power, got to work with some DIY snow-brick building, and created an ‘extension’ for one of our two toilets (known as ‘The Turdis’) to enclose the outside urinal.
Today hot water driller Sean Heaphy decided to further finesse the wall, to raise it up a bit higher for additional privacy. Sean has spent several seasons in Antarctica, so has refined his snow-brick skills to become somewhat of a master tradesman!
He also added a few aesthetic touches, with a hand-carved Turdis plaque. It’s the little things that count!
Our science and AIDD (Antarctic Intermediate Depth Drill) teams had a productive hands-on session today. AIDD driller Sean McKeown talked the team through the various drilling tools on site (hydraulic piston corer, push corer and rotary corer) with input from the other drillers. Together, drillers and scientists discussed potential drilling strategies, and how to ensure the best possible core recovery. Recovering sediments from the Antarctic margin is notoriously difficult, as it is often made of a range of different grain sizes and components. It was great to see the experience and expertise of the drillers and scientist coming together to talk through the options at hand and the choices to be made once operations are underway.
Drilling Science Coordinator Cliff Atkins walked the team through the steps once the core comes up. This included how to get the sediment out of the core liners/splits, how to deal with the core catchers for microbiology work, and how the core flow evolves after labelling the cores in the drill tent and taking them over the warm science container for x-rays.
The hot water drillers have begun to melt the main borehole. This hole is located alongside the well hole, and the first step is to melt down through the firn layer to approximately 100 metres, and intersect with the well cavity. The team will make several passes with the hot water drilling system, using a series of reamers to gradually widen the hole to a maximum diameter of 350 mm. Then it’s time to go all the way through the 580 metre-thick ice shelf to reach the 55 metre-thick sea water cavity. Once the hot water drill breaks through the ice shelf the water level in the borehole will equilibrate to mean sea level. Another few days of reaming the main borehole will follow, and then the ‘open hole’ will be available for science operations. The science team will use a winch to deploy a gravity corer, borehole camera, and oceanographic equipment to measure salinity, temperature, and pressure.
We now have a well cavity, and well pump installed. To make the cavity 80m below the surface of the ice shelf the hot water drillers use a drill attachment called a ‘Christmas Tree’ that sprays water in multiple directions. The well pump is vital, circulating water through the system, pumping an endless supply to drill our main borehole right through the 580m ice shelf. It’s heavy piece of kit, with numerous cables and hoses. It was all hands on deck to ensure a safe and successful install! (for more images see Gallery)
While our hot water drillers are busy getting our hole through the ice shelf, our AIDD (Antarctic Intermediate Depth Drill) team have also been hard at work with our ‘big rig’. They’ve assembled the custom-designed geological drill that we will use to retrieve a sediment core from up to 200 m deep into the seafloor below the ice shelf. The rig has weathered a long Antarctic winter, remaining here at teh drill site (SWAIS2C_5072_1) since last season, so the AIDD team are giving it some TLC and have been testing its operation. To prepare for drilling they’ve used the rig to put together the drill pipe, joining 3m sections together to make 6m lengths. We’ve now got a total of 620m of pipe ready to go. (see Gallery for more images)
The last members of our on-ice team have arrived in Antarctica, and have taken part in Antarctic Field Training (AFT) to learn essential skills required for life at our deep-field camp on the Ross Ice Shelf.
The four scientists – Arne Ulfers (LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics), Linda Armbrecht (University of Tasmania / ANZIC IODP), Luca Zurli (University of Siena) and Yuri Yamazki (NIPR) – and hot water driller Stephen Stretch, had perfect weather for their night out camping at Windless Bight.
Today the team began boring the well hole through the Ross Ice Shelf. They’re using water from snow melted in the flubbers, circulated through our six boilers to reach a temperature of 75°C, passed down a hose and through a hot water drill nozzle, which is slowly lowered to melt a hole through the ice.
They’ll keep melting until they get below sea level – around 80m below the drill tent – and then bore a well cavity, and lower in a pump.
The first pass of the hot water drill uses a spray head to make the initial hole, followed by a reamer to widen it, and then the ‘Christmas Tree’ attachment to make the cavity.
Once the well pump is in place, and circulation established, they’ll have an endless supply of water for drilling our main hole, all the way through the 580m of the ice shelf.
The whole process through to well pump installation takes around 12 hours – time for a crossword or two!
Running out of clean socks on the Ross Ice Shelf? Camp mini-washing machine to the rescue!
When you’re camping in the field in Antarctica for as long as the SWAIS2C on-ice team – 6 weeks or more – clean washing is a luxury. But as we’re already making hot water from snow to drill a hole through the ice shelf, we can use this ready supply for our little camp washing machine and shower.
Today was an exciting day, with hot water driller and electrician Hedley Berge taking the machine for its first spin on a load of tea towels for Chef Al. It’s a small capacity machine, strictly for underwear, socks, next to skin layers and tea towels – outer layers have to get by with a spot clean.
The washing machine is situated in a corner of the drill tent, and the water is brought in from the heated tank outside that was used to make seed water for the flubbers.
In a few days our shower will also be ready to run!
The hot water drill team are making excellent progress at site 5072_1. They’ve melted snow to fill the two flubbers that will supply water to the boilers to melt the pilot hole and create a well.
Each flubber tank holds 12,000 litres of water – that’s a lot of snow to melt. Once the process was underway with ‘seed water’ created in a heated tank, the team then used a Dingo (compact utility machine) to transport the snow into the first flubber. The next day they began transferring this water into the second flubber, while continuing to top up the first with fresh snow.
Meanwhile, inside the drill tent a 3 m pit has been dug out of the ice, and the cellar has been installed.
Five members of the science team, including the two Co-Chiefs Richard Levy and Tina van de Flierdt, flew to the drilling site at KIS3 (drill site 5072_1) on 4 December on a Basler BT-67. They were joined on the flight by an AIDD driller and the camp medic.
The 860km flight from Williams Field on Ross Island takes around 3.5 hours, heading southeast across the Ross Ice Shelf to the drill site on the Siple Coast. The team were delighted to arrive at site, meet the rest of the drillers and camp staff, and get their homes away from home set up in “Tent City”.
The wind at KIS3 has eased, allowing the drill team to complete the final step of assembling the drill tent – putting the skin on. At the end of the last season we planted a flag to indicate where we would melt a hole through the ice shelf and drill our long sediment core this year. The team have erected the drill tent over that site. With the tent construction complete the drillers can now concentrate on assembling the hot water drilling equipment.
Our 2024/25 season is underway! The Antarctica New Zealand traverse arrived at KIS3 on 15 November, after a 15-day, 1328 km journey across the Ross Ice Shelf. They quickly set to work building the camp – getting generators operating, assembling the mess tent, and preparing the 1.6 km runway in the ice.
After a few days of weather delays the hot water drill team flew into KIS3 on 25 November, followed the next day by our AIDD drillers. They have been busy digging out and organising equipment, while waiting for the wind to ease to allow final construction of the drill tent.
The first of our science team, including the two Co-Chiefs Tina van de Flierdt and Richard Levy, have arrived in Antarctica, and will soon be deploying to camp.
End of the first season of SWAIS2C Project (ICDP 5072_1)
The first SWAIS2C field season at the 5072_1 (KIS-3) drill site on the Ross Ice Shelf is over and our on-ice team is heading home with some cool new data and invaluable on-site experience as we continue our efforts to recover long sediment cores at our two study locations.
Twelve scientists, 10 drillers and 4 camp staff deployed to the ICDP 5072_1 site in late November through early December 2023 and set up an efficient camp comprising many sleeping tents, a mess tent, three science facilities (tents and container), and a large drilling tent.
Hot water drilling through ~580 m of ice went exceptionally well and we broke through the base of the ice shelf into the ocean cavity just before Christmas. Our first science activities through the open hole began immediately. Over a twelve-hour period we were able to collect several sediment cores using a gravity corer, acquired oceanographic data during several CTD casts, and collect video camera footage from the seafloor and the bottom of the ice shelf.
On December 23rd the Antarctic Intermediate Depth Drill (AIDD) was moved into place. Our drillers had deployed ~80 m of drill string, including the heavy steel bottom hole assembly and many lengths of sea riser made of glass reinforced epoxy, when we had to halt operations due to technical challenges. After careful consideration of all options and risks involved our leadership team decided to end drilling operations for the season. Our drillers were able to safely retrieve all drill string and we have very clear options to modify our operations to mitigate the technical challenges we experienced this year.
Once the ice shelf hole was clear of drill pipe, we started another phase of open hole science activity. These included additional gravity coring and a series of continuous CTD casts over a 24-hour period.
On December 28th we deployed a hammer corer and recovered of a 1.92 m long core, a record for the Siple Coast. This success was due to several innovative modifications to the core catcher and our deployment technique that were suggested and implemented by members of our drilling team.
We finished our borehole science operations with a successful deployment of an oceanographic mooring that will collect important data from the ice shelf cavity over years to come. These new data add to a sparse but growing body of measurements that are key to understand if warming of the Southern Ocean will cause the Ross ice shelf to melt.
Several of our team members also took time to uncover GPS equipment and ice penetrating radar (ApRES) that had been buried by several years’ worth of snow at two sites close to 5072_1 (KIS-3) site, which were occupied by New Zealand colleagues at previous science campaigns in preparation for SWAIS2C ICDP project. Data have been downloaded and we are looking to redeploy the equipment prior to final camp pull-out. We also moved some consumables that will be used for seismic experiments at Crary Ice Rise, the second drill site of SWAIS2C, now targeted for drilling in the 2025/2026 season.
We have achieved much this season and have learned a large amount about our challenging drilling process and environment. This new knowledge can only be gained through a field-based ‘shakedown’ and will ultimately help us achieve our goal to drill deep below the sea floor in this poorly understood region of Antarctica. We were thrilled when the almost two-meter-long sediment core arrived ‘on-deck’. In all we return from the Ross Ice Shelf with 8 gravity cores and 3 hammer cores and a total 7.6 m of sediment.
Obviously, we want more, but the cores we did recover provide a new record of recent ice sheet and ice shelf retreat; a climate and environmental record that will be studied in detail over the coming months. We also have lots of sediment samples that will be studied for their microbiological content so that we can reveal more about the communities living in the extreme environment below the cold and dark ice shelf cavity.
And finally, we now know that the sediments below the seafloor at site 5072_1 are relatively soft and that we can use our hydraulic piston corer with confidence – a big step forward as we sort important details for our drilling campaign. As the calendar crosses from 2023 to 2024, our team is already preparing to return to 5072_1 (KIS-3) in November to complete our sediment drilling objectives. We can address the technical issue encountered with the AIDD system this season. Our drillers, engineers and scientists have gained significant hands-on field-experience with both the hot water drill and the AIDD system, and how they ‘connect’. We can’t wait to return for the 2024/25 season!
