Eclipse Drill

Description

The IDP Eclipse Drills are modified Eclipse Drills originally manufactured by Icefield Instruments, Inc. The drill is an electromechanical system capable of collecting 81 mm (3.2-inch) diameter core to depths of approximately 300 meters. The drill system is transportable by small aircraft or helicopter. IDP has two Eclipse Drill systems that it regularly deploys.

In 2013, IDP designed and fabricated a solar and wind power system for use with the drill, which has proven useful at field sites where environmental impact is of concern and where use of a generator is not desirable or permitted. In 2017, IDP completed a redesign of the aging control boxes and readout boxes to provide simplified operation, weight reduction and new sealed cases. In 2018, new cover panels were implemented for the traversing system. New cases were also procured for the motor section and tower frame. New load pins and load pin amplifiers were implemented to make the load sense circuit more robust. Beneficial updates were made to the Operations and Maintenance Manual and minor maintenance is performed between field seasons.

Two Eclipse Drills are available for use. One is referred to as the ‘standard’ Eclipse Drill and the other as the ‘traversing’ Eclipse Drill, since it is sled-mounted. IDP has traditionally deployed the Eclipse Drills with Mountain Hardwear Space Station tents, but after experiencing stability issues during high winds, IDP is currently testing a new inflatable tent by Axion.

Equipment Details

Name Eclipse Drill
Type
Type
Ice coring
Number in Inventory
Number in Inventory
2
Max. Practical Depth
Max. Practical Depth
300 m
Hole Diameter
Hole Diameter
113 mm (4.4 inches)
Ice Core Diameter
Ice Core Diameter
81 mm (3.2 inches)
Ice Core Length
Ice Core Length
1 m
IDP Driller Required?
IDP Driller Required?
Yes, 1 driller (2 people required for drill operation)
Drill Fluid Required?
Drill Fluid Required?
No
Power Requirements/Source
Power Requirements/Source
120 V, 3 kW generator or Solar and wind power system
Estimated Drilling Time
Estimated Drilling Time

100 m - 60 hours
150 m - 110 hours
200 m - 150 hours

Time to Move (breakdown and setup)
Time to Move (breakdown and setup)
4 hours
Helicopter Transportable?
Helicopter Transportable?
Yes
Light Aircraft Transportable?
Light Aircraft Transportable?
Yes
Shipping Weight
Shipping Weight

1300 lbs

Shipping Volume (Cube)
Shipping Cube

70

Comments
Comments

Complete unit operating ~800 lbs. Heaviest component is the winch (on sled) 400 lbs. Winch control box 250 lbs.

Documents

Citation Year
NSF Ice Drilling Program (2019) Eclipse Drill Operations and Maintenance Manual. 1-69. 2019
Pavel Talalay, Xiaopeng Fan, Zhichuan Zheng, Jun Xue, Pinlu Cao, Nan Zhang, Rusheng Wang, Dahui Yu, Chengfeng Yu, Yunlong Zhang, Qi Zhang, Kai Su, Dongdong Yang, Jiewei Zhan (2014) Anti-torque systems of electromechanical cable-suspended drills and test results. Annals of Glaciology, 55, (68), 207-218. doi: 10.3189/2014AoG68A025. https://doi.org/10.3189/2014AoG68A025 2014
Vladimir Aizen, Christine Foreman, Andrei Kurbatov, Erich Osterberg, Eric J Steig (2011) 10 year plan for Shallow Coring Capabilities (1-400 m deep). 2011 Ice Drilling Science Community Planning Workshop, April 15-16, 2011, Herndon, Virginia, USA, 1-5. 2011
Erik W Blake, Cameron P Wake, Michael D Gerasimoff (1998) The ECLIPSE drill: a field-portable intermediate-depth ice-coring drill. Journal of Glaciology, 44, (146), 175-178. doi: 10.3189/S0022143000002471. https://doi.org/10.3189/S0022143000002471 1998

Photos

Project History

2024-2025 Antarctic - Center for OLDest Ice Exploration (COLDEX)
2024-2025 Antarctic - Collaborative Research: Constraining West Antarctic Ice Sheet Elevation during the last Interglacial
2024-2025 Antarctic - Collaborative Research: EAGER: Dating Glacier Retreat and Readvance near Mount Waesche, West Antarctica
2023-2024 Antarctic - Center for OLDest Ice Exploration (COLDEX)
2022-2023 Antarctic - NSF-NERC: Geological History Constraints on the Magnitude of Grounding Line Retreat in the Thwaites Glacier System
2019-2020 Antarctic - Geological History Constraints on the Magnitude of Grounding Line Retreat in the Thwaites Glacier System
2018-2019 Antarctic - Reconstructing Carbon-14 of Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide from Law Dome, Antarctica, to Constrain Long-Term Hydroxyl Radical Variability
2017 Arctic - Greenland: Camp Century Monitoring Programme
2017 Arctic - Greenland: Dynamic Observations of the Microstructural Evolution of Firn Under Load
2017 Arctic - Alaska: Influence of natural ice microstructure on rheology in general shear
2015 Arctic - Greenland: Investigating Carbon-14 in Polar Firn and Ice
2015 Arctic - Greenland: Investigating the Influence of Sea-surface Variability on Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Outlet Glacier Behavior using Records from Disko Bugt
2015-2016 Antarctic - Hunting for 1 Million Year Old Ice in the Allan Hills Blue Ice Area
2015-2016 Antarctic - Inert Gas and Methane Based Climate Records throughout the South Pole Deep Ice Core
2014 Arctic - Greenland: Investigating Carbon-14 in Polar Firn and Ice
2013 Arctic - Greenland: Investigating Carbon-14 in Polar Firn and Ice
2013 Arctic - Alaska: Reconstructing Central Alaskan Precipitation Variability and Atmospheric Circulation
2011-2012 Antarctic - Badger-Eclipse Drill/Hand Auger Field Test
2010 Arctic - Greenland: Greenland Ice Sheet Snow Accumulation Variability
2010-2011 Antarctic - Exploring a 2 Million + Year Ice Climate Archive-Allan Hills Blue Ice Area (2MBIA)
2010-2011 Antarctic - Constraining the Mass-Balance Deficit of the Amundsen Coast's Glaciers
2009-2010 Antarctic - Exploring a 2 Million + Year Ice Climate Archive-Allan Hills Blue Ice Area (2MBIA)

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