Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 12:23
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Antarctic Undersea ROV 09

Are all ice holes for SCINI drilled by hand? What is the thickest ice ever drilled through? What do you anticipate for this expedition?

Kristine T. (EHS)

Sun, 09/27/2009 - 14:48

Michele Cross

Hey Kristine,
I'll field these and do my best. Stacy may want to jump in before she leaves in a couple of days. Not all holes are hand drilled, but if we need a hand drilled hole, I'm the hole driller! I know that the team will also be looking for natural fractures in the ice in which to deploy SCINI.
Stacy will have to answer the "thickest ice drilled through question" as I'm unsure of that. I do know that hand drilling can take a couple of hours...or more. (I'm sure she'll want to answer the "anticipate" question as well.)
In terms of what I anticipate....well, I'm very excited about seeing new species of under ice marine life!!!! Quite frankly, I'm excited to behold the vast array of colors UNDER the ice! I also have no doubt that we will successfully accomplish all the goals that have ben identified for this season, and I know you're well aware of those goals as you've seen my PPT MANY times!!
Take care!
Michele

Mon, 09/28/2009 - 19:30

Stacy Kim

Hi Kristine,When we are working on engineering tests, or in an area where we are
also scuba diving, the holes are drilled by a large mechanical rig
called a Reed drill, which is towed to the site by a tractor. These
are usually used for drilling wells, but will also go through ice.
When we are doing science missions, we use a gas powered drill called
a Jiffy drill, that is usually used for drilling fence post holes.
Two people handle it, and it is hard work, especially when you have 7
m (21 ft) of ice to go through - and 7 m of heavy drill bit to hoist
up with just 2 people. We haven't gone through ice much thicker than
that simply because we can't lift the drill if it gets any heavier.
We are a little worried about this year because one of the things we
want to do is test SCINI in a place where there is frazil ice, a thick
layer of platelet ice under the solid ice. We could not get a permit
to work at White Island, where frazil ice is easy to get to through
cracks, so we are going to have to work far out on the annual ice,
where the ice was 24 ft thick last year. It will be dangerous to
drill that deep, and we have never done it before. We hope we will be
successful!
Best, Stacy
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