A new 122 mm electromechanical drill for deep ice-sheet coring (DISC): 1. Design concepts

Abstract

The Deep Ice Sheet Coring (DISC) drill, developed by Ice Coring and Drilling Services (ICDS) under contract with the US National Science Foundation, is an electromechanical drill designed to take 122 mm diameter ice cores to depths of 4000 m. The conceptual design of the DISC drill was developed in 2002/03 based on science requirements written by K. Taylor and the United States ice-coring community and on engineering performance objectives. Detailed design of the drill began in June 2003. Special attention was paid to building safety into the design and operation of the drill system. The drill was designed and manufactured by a team of engineers and technicians from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and various subcontractors with assistance from the science community, the European ice-drilling community and polar logistical support organizations. ICDS successfully tested the drill in Greenland in 2006 and will continue its development to meet the science objectives of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Ice Core Project.

Core handling and processing for the WAIS Divide ice-core project

“…At the completion of each drill run, the DISC drill’s tower and sonde were tilted horizontally to allow for the removal of the core barrel and servicing of the sonde (Shturmakov and others, 2007). After the core barrel was disconnected from the rest of the sonde, it was lifted and rotated 180° using an 1814kg (2 ton) gantry crane fitted with a barrel-lifting and -rotating fixture (Johnson and others, 2007).…”

A new 122 mm electromechanical drill for deep ice-sheet coring (DISC): 5. Experience during Greenland field testing

“…In addition to the contributions made by participants listed in the acknowledgements section of the lead paper in this series (Shturmakov and others, 2007), we also thank VECO Polar Resources for ongoing help and logistics support during the Greenland test season.…”

DISC drill and replicate coring system: a new era in deep ice drilling engineering

“…The development of the deep ice sheet coring (DISC) drill has a long history (Johnson and others, 2007; Mason and others, 2007; Mortensen and others, 2007; Shturmakov and Sendelbach, 2007; Shturmakov and others, 2007; Bentley and others, 2008). After the DISC drill test in Greenland in 2006, the system was shipped to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide (Fig.…”