Gallery | NSF Ice Drilling Program

Photos profiling the equipment, science, and outreach supported by NSF IDP

4-Inch Drill

Beth Bergeron (left) and Michael Jayred (right) drilling a 130-meter deep ice core at WAIS Divide, Antarctica, during the 2006-2007 summer field season

700 Drill

Inside the 700 Drill tent. In the forefront is the console used for operating the drill. Photo credit: Umberto Stefanini.

Agile Sub-Ice Geological Drill

ASIG Drill in operation at Pirrit Hills, Antarctica, during the 2016-2017 summer field season

Axion Tent

The 6 meter x 6 meter Axion tent set-up inside the IDP-WI warehouse. Photo credit: IDP.

Badger-Eclipse Drill

Drilling tent and Eclipse Drill in operation at a snowy Allan Hills, Antarctica, during the 2015-2016 summer field season

BASE Drill

A Multi-Power Products Ltd employee (foreground) demonstrates the BASE Drill to IDP engineer/driller Elliot Moravec (background). Credit: Jay Johnson.

Blue Ice Drill

The Blue Ice Drill at Summit, Greenland, during the 2010 field season

Cargo Ramps

The 2024 IDP cargo ramp; a lighter weight ramp for safer and easier loading and unloading of cargo at polar field sites. Photo credit: IDP

Cargo/Warehouse

Jay Johnson loads the 53-foot Conestoga trailer with cargo to support the 2016-2017 Antarctic field season

Chipmunk Drill

A scientist uses the Chipmunk Drill at Pakitsoq, West Greenland, in 2004 to recover samples of ice

Deep Ice Sheet Coring Drill

The final core – from 3405-meters-depth – of the WAIS Divide deep borehole

Deep Logging Winch

The Deep Logging Winch for logging boreholes up to 4000-meters deep

Electrothermal Drill

Collecting firn water from the drill head of the thermal drill during the 2013 field season in SE Greenland

Foro 1650 Drill

The very last run of ice from the South Pole Ice Core project inside the barrel of the Intermediate Depth Drill

Foro 400

The sled, winch, and tower base for the Foro 400 Drill. JAY JOHNSON

Hand Auger IDDO

IDDO hand auger kit contents

Hand Auger PICO

Collecting an ice core in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica using a PICO hand auger.

Hand Auger SIPRE

A SIPRE hand auger is used on an ice-covered northern U.S. temperate lake

Ice Well

Ice well facility with chiller in the foreground

Intermediate Depth Logging Winch

The intermediate depth logging winch in operation at Siple Dome, Antarctica, during the 2013-2014 summer field season

Logging Tower

The logging tower is strapped to the Siple Dome borehole casing

MAST Tents

The MAST tent for the BID-Deep system at Allan Hills, Antarctica, during the 2019/20 field season. Credit: Tanner Kuhl.

Outreach

2017 School of Ice participants and facilitators.

Prairie Dog

A field team led by Craig Lee (INSTAAR, UC-Boulder) and co-principal investigators David McWethy (Montana State University) and Greg Pederson (US Geological Survey) use the Prairie Dog Drill to recover a core from an ice patch in the Greater Yellowstone Area

Rapid Air Movement Drill

IDP driller Mike Jayred tests the RAM Drill during the 2010-2011 field season for the Askaryan Radio Array project at South Pole

Replicate Coring System

Replicate coring system actuator section

Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill

Testing of the SLLID at the IDP-Wisconsin warehouse in Madison, WI

Sidewinder

PI Erich Osterberg drills with the IDP Hand Auger and Sidewinder system in Greenland

Small Hot Water Drill

Drilling seismic shot holes with the Small Hot Water Drill on Beardmore Glacier, Antarctica, during the 2012-2013 summer field season

Stampfli Drill

The Stampfli Drill in Greenland during the 2017 Arctic field season

USGS Deep Logging Winch

IDP driller/winch operator Elizabeth Morton assists with borehole logging operations at WAIS Divide, Antarctica

Windscreens

Photo of an IDP windscreen inside the IDP-WI warehouse. Photo credit: IDP.

Winkie Drill

The Winkie Drill in Ong Valley, Antarctica, during the 2017-2018 Antarctic field season