Electrothermal Drill

The Electrothermal Drill (aka Thermal Drill) melts an annulus around the ice cores it collects. It can be substituted for the 4-Inch Drill sonde, using the same winch system, for use in ice warmer than about minus 10° C. The drill collects a 86 mm (3.4-inch) core and has been used to drill to nearly 300 meters. For depths shallower than 30 m, a simpler tripod assembly for operation of the drill has been used with good success. The sonde is particularly useful in ice close to the pressure melting point, where electromechanical drills are at risk of getting stuck. At the request of the science community, IDP pursued upgrades in PY 2018 to allow for coring to 300 meters. New heat rings, a new 300 meter water-shedding cable, a magnetic tool to aid in core removal and an ethanol deployment system were implemented. In 2021, a new debris vacuum was designed, fabricated, and tested to remove debris from the borehole that might impede melting and forward progress. A new core processing tray was also developed. In PY 2022, a second aluminum sonde was fabricated to replace the heavier steel barrel.

The Thermal Drill has performed well in Alaska, British Columbia, southeastern Greenland, and Peru. In 2019, three IDP personnel traveled to Alaska in conjunction with the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) and successfully tested the drill to 300 meters depth. The drill was used in September 2022 to successfully drill 128 meters to bedrock at a high-altitude site on the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru, and was used again on Mt. Waddington in British Columbia, Cananda in 2023 to a depth of 219 meters.