700 Drill

The IDP Science Advisory Board identified in the IDP Long Range Science Plan 2015-2025 and later, a priority need to alter the surface equipment for the existing Intermediate Depth Drill to make a drilling operation that is less logistically intensive, to be used for alpine or polar ice coring at sites with limited logistics and with two months or less time on site. In continuing discussions, it became evident that a smaller diameter core would result in significant logistical savings.

Status

From discussions organized by IDP with iterative discussions between scientists, and IDP staff, the 700 Drill science requirements were finalized, and a Conceptual Design Review was also completed. The proposed 700 Drill system design is guided by and meets the science requirements identified by the research community. The system will be optimized to have minimal logistical requirements for drilling projects up to 700 meters depth. The proposed 700 Drill system will produce the smallest core diameter (70 mm initially, potentially adapting to 64 mm in the future) and borehole (88 mm) diameter of the IDP suite of drills, which will minimize the quantity (i.e., volume and weight) of drilling fluid and the number and weight of core boxes. With NSF approval, IDP is now moving forward with the Detailed Design phase for the 700 Drill and, when completed, will present the design to community scientists and NSF for review.