Rapid Air Movement Drill

The Rapid Air Movement (RAM) Drill was developed for creating shot holes for seismic geophysical exploration. It is a system in which high-velocity air drives rotating cutters and blows the ice chips from the hole. The cutting drill motor hangs on a hose that carries the air from the surface and is reeled out as the hole deepens. The original RAM Drill was used three times in West Antarctica, where it routinely achieved depths of 90 m. The Askaryan Radio Array (ARA) project used the drill in 2010-2011 to test methods of producing holes for radio antennae at South Pole but could not get deeper than 63 m at that location.

In 2017, substantial modifications and upgrades were made to reduce the system’s logistical requirements. IDP designed and built the modified RAM 2 system. The modifications serve to dramatically reduce the system weight from approximately 24,000 lbs. to about 10,000 lbs. and will allow for easier assembly and operations in remote areas. A field test of the modified system was conducted near Raven Camp in Greenland in July 2018. Repairs and additional modifications were made prior to the drill’s deployment to Antarctica in September 2018. The system was tested by two IDP personnel at WAIS Divide during the 2019-2020 field season. The drill routinely achieved between 50-55 m, the requirement for planned field work on Thwaites Glacier. The smaller RAM 2 compressors will eventually be optimized to provide the necessary airflow for future projects.

During an abbreviated 2022-2023 Antarctic season, the RAM 2 Drill was used to drill 27 holes on a line starting at WAIS camp and extending ~32 km grid west towards Thwaites glacier, and operational data for the RAM 2 Drill system was collected.