Hot Water Drilling 101 – How to drill through an ice shelf

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• Paul Anker, British Antarctic Survey
• Friday 16 October 2015, 16:30-17:00
• British Antarctic Survey Conference Room.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Alexander Brearley.

If you want to know what’s happening underneath an 800m thick ice shelf then melting your way through using a hot water drill is the quickest and easiest method. BAS has been engaged in hot water drilling activities for the past 25+ years using the technique to access the oceanic regime beneath ice shelves across the continent. The Polar Oceans Shelf Seas group is responsible for a number of different drilling systems tailored to various ice thicknesses and conditions ranging from shallow 100m thick Arctic ice shelves to deep 2000m+ thick Antarctic ice sheets. Whilst the basic principle of hot water drilling and the equipment used is relatively straightforward, persuading the various components to work together to produce a suitable access hole in a harsh polar environment presents a number of challenges. I’ll talk through these challenges, the basic principles of hot water drilling, the various components that make up a drill system and the detail the projects in which this technique has been used successfully.

This talk is part of the British Antarctic Survey Happy Hour Seminar Series series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• British Antarctic Survey Conference Room
• British Antarctic Survey Happy Hour Seminar Series

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