Deep Ice Sheet Coring Drill

The Deep Ice Sheet Coring (DISC) Drill is a tilting-tower electromechanical drill designed to take 122 mm (4.8-inch) diameter ice cores to a depth of 4,000 m. The drill recovers cores up to 3.5 m long per run. To maintain field operations, the system includes a surface-based mechanical and electrical maintenance and repair shop built in a Mobile Expandable Container Configuration (MECC) ISO container. The drill was utilized for six production seasons at WAIS Divide, Antarctica, from 2007-2013 and completed the deepest U.S. ice core ever drilled at 3405 m depth. Replicate coring operations were also successfully completed onsite (see Replicate Coring System). In PY 2015, IDP worked with community scientists to complete revised science requirements for the DISC Drill. This iterative process included discussion of the feasibility of reducing the drill’s logistical footprint.

Current Status

Decommissioning in progress.

In spring 2020, all remaining DISC Drill components were returned to Madison. In 2017, IDP worked with science community representatives to complete a DISC Drill vs. Foro 3000 (see Foro 3000 section) analysis, to help determine which system should be used for the next deep U.S. ice drilling project at Hercules Dome, Antarctica. The community consensus was that IDP should pursue development of the Foro 3000 Drill. As much of the functionality of this drill is being replaced by the new Foro 3000 Drill, IDP initiated a discussion with the science community in spring 2021 regarding decommissioning of the DISC Drill. A survey was also distributed to the science community in August 2021 to gauge interest in future use of the drill. Following these efforts and with the approval of the NSF, IDP will soon decommission the DISC Drill and remove it from inventory. The MECC (Mobile Expandable Container Configuration) machine shop would not be decommissioned as it is planned for use with the Foro 3000 Drill.