Twenty Years of Drilling the Deepest Hole in Ice

Vasiliev, N. I.; Тalalay, Pavel G.

doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.11.05.2011

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…More reliable GHF estimates under the Antarctic Ice Sheet can be made from available temperature profiles in ice boreholes. During the last 5 decades, deep ice-core drilling projects at six sites -Byrd (Ueda and Garfield, 1970), WAIS Divide (Slawny et al, 2014), Dome C (Augustin et al, 2007), Kohnen (Wilhelms et al, 2014), Dome F (Motoyama, 2007), and Vostok (Lukin and Vasiliev, 2014;Vasiliev et al, 2011) -have succeeded in reaching or nearly reaching the icesheet bed at inland locations in Antarctica. Reported drill site conditions -snow accumulation rate, mean annual surface air temperature, ice-sheet surface velocity, ice thickness, and drilling depth -are summarized in Table 1.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geothermal heat flux from measured temperature profiles in deep ice boreholes in Antarctica

Тalalay

Augustin³

et al. 2020

The Cryosphere

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Abstract. The temperature at the Antarctic Ice Sheet bed and the temperature gradient in subglacial rocks have been directly measured only a few times, although extensive thermodynamic modeling has been used to estimate the geothermal heat flux (GHF) under the ice sheet. During the last 5 decades, deep ice-core drilling projects at six sites – Byrd, WAIS Divide, Dome C, Kohnen, Dome F, and Vostok – have succeeded in reaching or nearly reaching the bed at inland locations in Antarctica. When temperature profiles in these boreholes and steady-state heat flow modeling are combined with estimates of vertical velocity, the heat flow at the ice-sheet base is translated to a geothermal heat flux of 57.9 ± 6.4 mW m−2 at Dome C, 78.9 ± 5.0 mW m−2 at Dome F, and 86.9 ± 16.6 mW m−2 at Kohnen, all higher than the predicted values at these sites. This warm base under the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) could be caused by radiogenic heat effects or hydrothermal circulation not accounted for by the models. The GHF at the base of the ice sheet at Vostok has a negative value of −3.6 ± 5.3 mW m−2, indicating that water from Lake Vostok is freezing onto the ice-sheet base. Correlation analyses between modeled and measured depth–age scales at the EAIS sites indicate that all of them can be adequately approximated by a steady-state model. Horizontal velocities and their variation over ice-age cycles are much greater for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet than for the interior EAIS sites; a steady-state model cannot precisely describe the temperature distribution here. Even if the correlation factors for the best fitting age–depth curve are only moderate for the West Antarctic sites, the GHF values estimated here of 88.4 ± 7.6 mW m−2 at Byrd and 113.3 ± 16.9 mW m−2 at WAIS Divide can be used as references before more precise estimates are made on the subject.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geothermal heat flux from measured temperature profiles in deep ice boreholes in Antarctica

Тalalay

Augustin³

et al. 2020

The Cryosphere

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“…Drilling of the deep Hole #5G started in February 1990, using a TELGA-14M thermal drill for dry coring to a depth of 120 m [8] , and a TBZS-152M thermal drill for fluid-filled holes down to 2 502.7 m. However, this drill became stuck during tripping out, at a depth of 2 259 m, as a result of hole closure caused by insufficient fluid pressurization. Recovery attempts failed, and the cable was pulled out of the top of the drill.…”

Section: Drillingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Russian researchers reach subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica

Тalalay¹

2012

APS

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Opening a new scientific frontier lying under the Antarctic ice, Russian researchers have drilled down and finally reached the surface of the gigantic freshwater lake, Lake Vostok. The mission chief likened the achievement to placing a man on the moon. Drilling in the area of the lake began 22 years ago in 1990, but progressed slowly as a result of funding shortages, equipment breakdowns, difficulties of drilling in the "warm" ice, and environmental concerns. In 1996, six years after drilling was started, a group of Russian and British scientists discovered the lake believed to be one of the largest fresh water reservoirs on the planet. This lake is among the last unexplored places on Earth. Sealed from the Earth's atmosphere for millions of years, it may provide vital information about microbial evolution, the past climate of the Earth, and the formation of the Antarctic ice sheet. Russian experts waited several years for international approval of their drilling technology before proceeding. As anticipated, lake water under pressure rushed up the borehole, pushing the drilling fluid up and away, then froze, forming a protective plug that prevented contamination of the lake. In December of the next Antarctic season, 2012-2013, researchers plan to re-drill the frozen sample of subglacial water for analysis.

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“…Previous ice-drilling deviations have been performed with material blocking the parent borehole functioning as a whip-stock or in open holes on the low side, or the floor of an inclined borehole. Previous ice-drilling deviations include successes at Vostok station, Antarctica (Vasiliev and others, 2011), and at North Eemian (NEEM), Greenland (S.B. Hansen, unpublished information).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%