Gallery | NSF Ice Drilling Program

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

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. Photo: Joseph Souney

4-Inch Drill

The control station for the 700 Drill. Credit: Umberto Stefanini.

700 Drill

ASIG Drill in operation at Pirrit Hills, Antarctica, during the 2016-2017 summer field season. Photo: Tanner Kuhl

Agile Sub-Ice Geological Drill

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

Axion Tent

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

BASE Drill

Interior of the new Blue Ice Drill tent at Law Dome, Antarctica, during the 2018/19 field season. Credit: Peter Neff

Blue Ice Drill

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 Ramps

A scientist uses the Chipmunk Drill at Pakitsoq, West Greenland, in 2004 to recover samples of ice. Credit: Ed Brook

Chipmunk Drill

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

Deep Logging Winch

One of the shallow drill sites at Allan Hills, Antarctica, during the 2009-2010 summer field season. Credit: Mike Waszkiewicz

Eclipse Drill

Drilling with the thermal drill at Combatant Col, Mt. Waddington, British Columbia, during the 2010 field season. Credit: Eric Steig

Electrothermal Drill

A close-up view of an ice core still in the Foro 1650 drill barrel. Credit: Peter Rejcek

Foro 1650 Drill

Foro 400 drill system inside the drill tent at Allan Hills, Antarctica, during the 2019/20 field season. Credit: Tanner Kuhl

Foro 400 Drill

IDDO hand auger kit contents. Credit: Josh Jetson

Hand Auger IDDO

Kovacs 9-cm Mark II hand auger kit at NSF IDP.

Hand Auger Kovacs

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

Hand Auger SIPRE

Ice well facility with chiller in the foreground. Photo: Chris Gibson

Ice Well

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

Intermediate Depth Logging Winch

The intermediate depth logging winch in operation at Siple Dome, Antarctica, during the 2013-2014 summer field season. The logging tower is strapped to the Siple Dome borehole casing. Credit: Josh Jetson

Logging Tower

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

MAST Tents

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. Credit: Chris Boyer

Prairie Dog

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

Rapid Air Movement Drill

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

Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill

Using the Sidewinder at Allan Hills, Antarctica, for the NSF Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (COLDEX) project. Photo credit: Jenna Epifanio, COLDEX.

Sidewinder

The Small Hot Water Drill set-up at the University of Wisconsin's Physical Sciences Laboratory for testing/upgrade during the 2015 summer. Photo: Terry Benson

Small Hot Water Drill

Researchers use the Stampfli Drill to collect a 50-meter long core from the summit plateau of Mount Hunter, Alaska. Credit: David Polashenski

Stampfli Drill

IDP driller/winch operator Elizabeth Morton assists with borehole logging operations at WAIS Divide, Antarctica, during the 2011-2012 summer field season. Credit: Kristina Slawny

USGS Deep Logging Winch

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

Windscreens

The Winkie Drill in Ong Valley, Antarctica, during the 2017-2018 Antarctic field season. Credit: Andrew Grant

Winkie Drill