Foro 400 Drill

The Foro 400 Drill is an electromechanical ice coring drill that retrieves 98 mm (3.86-inch) diameter x 1-meter-long ice cores to approximately 400 meters depth. 

Design of the Foro 400 Drill was initiated in 2015 based on driller feedback with the aging 4-Inch Drill, and to utilize more recent and proven designs from other IDP drill systems. The design is largely based on the current 4-Inch Drill equipment but offers generous weight savings. The Foro 400 Drill produces a 98 mm (3.9-inch) diameter core, the same as IDP’s Foro 1650 Drill (aka Intermediate Depth Drill) and Foro 3000 Drill. In addition, the Foro 400 sonde design is submersible and watertight. However, the barrel assemblies are only suitable for dry drilling. Using a common sonde design across several drills spreads design costs over multiple projects, strengthens component availability, and promises to reduce future maintenance costs. 

The system was deployed to Antarctica for its first field project during the 2019-2020 field season at Allan Hills, Antarctica. In 2023, IDP purchased new aluminum outer tubes to replace the fiberglass tubes, as it was surmised the fiberglass was creating heat, resulting in chip transport issues and poor core quality starting at depths as shallow as 150 m. The new barrels were tested at Summit Station in summer 2024. A new truss tower was also designed and implemented to make system assembly easier and safer by increasing the load capacity for use with the MAST Tent. In 2025, IDP implemented and successfully tested a safer, easier method of raising and lowering the truss tower.

The system was used on Tunu Glacier in Greenland in spring 2022, at Allan Hills during the 2022-2023 Antarctic field season, and on Canisteo Peninsula during the 2023-2024 field season. In 2024, IDP conducted beneficial hands-on training for several IDP team members at Summit Station in conjunction with a funded field project nearby.