Stampfli 2-Inch Drill

IDP engineers worked during the third and fourth quarters to integrate new drill system components and conduct testing at the IDP Warehouse and Drill Maintenance Facility. A damaged core barrel from the Stampfli Drill was cut off and repurposed for use with the Chipmunk Drill. The barrel performed well during preliminary testing in a chest freezer and will be further tested in Wyoming ice patches in September by a science team. IDP conducted Foro 3000 Drill electronics testing and developed a LabVIEW user interface for operation of the drill. In collaboration with design firm QD-Tech, IDP designed a new slip-style foot clamp for the Winkie 2 drill to improve drill rig safety. The wedge design of the jaws allows drill rod to be freely raised but prevents accidental lowering. In June, IDP completed assembly and load testing of the new foot clamp to 1400 lbs., which is twice the weight of 100 m of drill rod.

IDP successfully supported five projects during the 2019 Arctic field season.

(1) The Collaborative Research: Quantifying Heat/Mass Structure and Fluxes Through the Full Thickness of Greenland’s Percolation Zone project (PIs Harper and Humphrey; NSF awards 1717241 and 1717939) collected shallow firn cores in western Greenland using an IDDO hand auger and Sidewinder kit. The shallow cores were used to quantify firn density and provided access for temperature logging of the shallow firn thickness. The goal of the multiyear project is to use a combination of shallow and deep cores/boreholes to quantify the structure, thermal state, and heat fluxes through the full thickness of the firn column across a transect spanning western Greenland’s percolation zone. The researchers are using their own hot water drill to drill the deep (up to 100 meters) boreholes.

(2) The Collaborative Research: Refreezing in the Firn of the Greenland Ice Sheet: Spatiotemporal Variability and Implications for Ice Sheet Mass Balance project (PIs Rennermalm, Tedesco, and Hock; NSF awards 1604058, 1603331, 1603815) used an IDDO hand auger and Sidewinder kit for a third season in Greenland. During the multiyear project, the researchers collected several shallow firn cores from the southwestern sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet to investigate the stratigraphy, density, temperature, and liquid water content of the firn cover and its spatial and temporal variations.

(3) The Partnerships for Polar Science Education and Outreach in Greenland (JSEP) and Antarctica (JASE) project (PI Virginia; NSF award 1748137) encompasses two NSF-sponsored polar-focused programs – the Joint Science Education Project (JSEP) and the Joint Antarctic School Expedition (JASE) – that provide significant opportunities for training the next generation of STEM professionals and for polar-science outreach. JSEP, a project of the Joint Committee, was initiated in 2007 to educate students and teachers from Greenland, Denmark, and the U.S. The program brings US students together with Danish and Greenlandic students in Greenland where the group spends three weeks studying the causes and consequences of Arctic environmental change. As part of the JSEP program, an IDDO hand auger was used to expose the students to firn science (observing stratigraphic, density, and temperature changes with depth) at EastGRIP. JASE, a project in collaboration with the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH), takes U.S. students to Antarctica to work alongside Chilean students and examine Antarctica’s rapidly changing ecosystems.

(4) The EAGER: Exploration of the Denali Basal Ice Core Archive project (PI Kreutz; NSF award 1806422) returned to their 2013 ice core drill site and used the Stampfli Drill to collect a 50-meter long core from the summit plateau of Mount Hunter, Alaska. The researchers used a solar power system to power the Stampfli Drill during collection of the first ~45 meters of core when the sun was shining; the last 5 meters were collected during cloudy conditions, which required use of a generator to power the drill. The objective of the research is to understand the recent and past changes in summer temperature, snow accumulation, atmospheric circulation, and pollution in the context of the last 2000 years of natural variability in the North Pacific. In 2013 the researchers collected twin 208-meter long ice cores to bedrock from the same location (see Ice Bits 2013 Summer). This season’s 50-meter long core will be used to update the climate record from 2013 to 2019 and help aid in the interpretation of the deeper ice.

(5) The Electrothermal Drill Testing with the Juneau Icefield Research Program project (Ice Drilling Program) successfully field tested new modifications to the Thermal Drill. In late July and early August 2019, IDP Mechanical Engineer Grant Boeckmann, IDP Field Support Manager Anna de Vitry, and IDP contractor and Warehouse Manager Jim Koehler traveled to Juneau, AK, for a beneficial testing opportunity with the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP). Utilizing the well-established logistics of the JIRP program, the IDP team was able to test new Thermal Drill modifications including a new 300-meter drill cable, a prototype ethanol delivery mechanism, and new heat rings. The IDP team successfully reached 294 meters and was able to refine operating procedures for the equipment.

The second quarter saw the start of the 2019 Arctic field season. IDP is providing support to the following projects:

(1) The Quantifying Heat/Mass Structure and Fluxes through the Full Thickness of Greenland's Percolation Zone project (PI Harper; NSF award #1717241) will collect several shallow firn cores in western Greenland using a hand auger and Sidewinder kit. The cores will be used to quantify firn density, and the resultant boreholes will provide access for temperature logging of the firn column. The goal of the multiyear project is to use a combination of shallow and deep cores/boreholes to quantify the structure, thermal state, and heat fluxes through the full thickness of the firn column across a transect spanning western Greenland's percolation zone. The researchers are using their own hot water drill to drill the deep boreholes.

(2) The Refreezing in the Firn of the Greenland Ice Sheet 2019 project (PI Rennermalm; NSF award #1604058) will use a hand auger and Sidewinder kit to collect several shallow firn cores from the southwestern sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet to investigate the stratigraphy, density, temperature, and liquid water content of the firn cover. The project's goal is to better understand how the surface meltwater generated in the summer makes its way from its location on the ice sheet to the ocean. Two competing but not mutually exclusive theories are 1) the meltwater percolates into the ice sheet pores and is stored for a relatively long time. 2) The initial infiltrating meltwater refreezes at shallow depth in the firn, forming a hard pan that prohibits further infiltration. The project will test these two hypotheses through a combination of fieldwork, remote sensing from satellites, and modeling.

(3) The Partnerships for Polar Science Education and Outreach in Greenland (JSEP) project (PI Virginia; NSF award #1748137) is a multicultural polar science outreach program for high school students from Greenland, Denmark, and the USA. The program brings US students together with Danish and Greenlandic students in Greenland, where the group will spend several weeks studying the causes and consequences of Arctic environmental change. As part of the program, a hand auger will be used to expose the students to firn science (observing stratigraphic, density, and temperature changes with depth) at EastGRIP.

(4) The EAGER: Exploration of the Denali Basal Ice Core Archive project (PI Kreutz; NSF award #1806422) will return to their 2013 ice core drill site and use the Stampfli Drill to collect a 30- to 50-meter long core. The researcher's objective is to understand the recent and past changes in summer temperature, snow accumulation, atmospheric circulation, and pollution in the context of the last 2000 years of natural variability in the North Pacific. In 2013 the researchers collected twin 208-meter long ice cores to bedrock from the summit plateau of Mt. Hunter in Denali National Park. This season's 30- to 50-meter long core will be used to update the climate record from 2013 to 2019 and help aid in the interpretation of the deeper ice.

(5) The Thermal Drill Testing with the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) project is an internal IDP project. The Electrothermal drill, aka the "Thermal drill", is a mechanical ice coring drill based on the agile 4-Inch drill but with the addition of an electrically heated ring that enables coring in temperate ice that is close to the pressure melting point. Following planned system upgrades in PY 2018, including a new 300-meter long cable, new heat rings and an ethanol delivery mechanism, IDP is conducting a three-week test of the Electrothermal Drill system in Alaska in conjunction with other JIRP activities and established logistics. Following the test, IDP will inspect and repair the Electrothermal Drill equipment and make any necessary modifications.

In late February and early March, IDP-WI supported a test of PI Dale Winebrenner's Ice Diver probe in the prototype test well located on the UW Physical Sciences Lab campus outside of Madison. Record-breaking low temperatures in Wisconsin during the week-long test provided a true Antarctic field experience. The team reached 10-meters depth in the 13-meter deep hole and brainstormed beneficial modifications to implement before further testing in Greenland. Following that effort, IDP took an opportunity to test the Stampfli Drill, a newer drill for IDP, but most often used in firn, to determine its suitability for drilling pilot holes for the Winkie Drill on Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica. In the absence of an outer barrel, chip transport was found to be inefficient when drilling in ice. IDP engineers have identified possible modifications to improve the system, such as the addition of a ribbed outer barrel, replacement of the aluminum cutter heads with stainless steel heads and the addition of variable pitch shoes to control penetration based on borehole conditions. For the upcoming Antarctic field season, and after discussion with ASC and PI Brent Goehring, IDP will deploy an Eclipse Drill for drilling of the Winkie Drill pilot holes but may look to upgrade the lighter weight Stampfli Drill to accomplish this task in the future as time and funds allow. IDP was also able to test the performance of a new Thermal Drill cable, new heat rings, and a tool designed by IDP engineers to more efficiently remove cores from the core barrel.

Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill (SLLID)
The new Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill (SLLID), designed and built by IDDO, is a 28kW hot water drill useful for creating holes with very little initial water, for freeing instrument cables from the ice, and for accessing equipment deployed beneath the ice. The drill is effective at drilling through sediment laden ice and allows safe servicing of science instruments deployed in the lakes and ocean.

For more information about the SLLID, contact IDPO-IDDO at Icedrill at Dartmouth dot edu.

Stampfli Drill
The Stampfli Drill, a commercially-available shallow ice coring system purchased and received by IDDO in early 2017, is now ready for issue to investigators. Following a test of the system at Summit Station, Greenland, IDDO engineers made slight modifications to the commercial kit to include a more robust and replaceable steel cutter design and implemented a more efficient and lightweight packing strategy for remote deployments utilizing small aircraft and manpower for cargo movements. A tent is also available for use with the system. Science teams may operate the system on their own, with no drilling support from IDDO required, but are encouraged and welcome to visit IDDO in Madison, WI for pre-deployment hands-on familiarization training with the system if desired.

For more information about the Stampfli Drill, contact IDPO-IDDO at Icedrill at Dartmouth dot edu.

Winkie Drill
In preparation for the upcoming field season in Antarctica, IDDO outfitted the Winkie Drill with a new electric motor and larger diameter core barrel for collecting 76 mm diameter cores. Testing of the updated drill is ongoing at the IDDO warehouse. The Winkie Drill will be shipped to Antarctica in September where it will be used to collect dirty ice cores in Ong Valley, Antarctica, to depths of up to 20 meters.

Stampfli 2-Inch Drill
IDDO shipped the very lightweight, agile Stampfli 2-Inch Drill system to Greenland for field testing in June in conjunction with a funded field project taking place at Summit Station. The small, solar-powered drill operated well during the field test, producing 58 meters of core. Based on the results of the field test, IDDO is working to make minor repairs and modifications to the drill, procure spare parts, and develop a lightweight packing strategy for this system. The system could be ready for deployment and PI operation as early as the 2017-2018 Antarctic field season.

Rapid Air Movement (RAM) Drill
A conceptual design for extensive weight reduction based on the revised science requirements was completed in July. The conceptual design was presented to community scientists Sridhar Anandakrishnan and Paul Winberry for input in early August. Following that external review and any necessary modifications to the design, IDDO plans to begin purchasing primary components for the lighter-weight RAM Drill system in September/October.

Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill
The Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill is a lightweight, field portable hot water drill for drilling through several meters of sediment-laden lake ice. Following the April external design review and the ordering of components in May, IDDO began assembly of the system in June and plans to complete simple functionality testing at the IDDO warehouse in late summer and early fall. The system could be ready for deployment and PI operation as early as the 2018 Arctic field season.

Foro 3000 Drill
The Design Review of the Foro 3000 Drill was held on June 6. The Design Review was a virtual meeting where IDDO presented the Conceptual Design for the drill, and community scientists Eric Steig, Ed Brook, and T.J. Fudge provided feedback from the scientist/user perspective. The Conceptual Design for the drill is now complete. The Foro 3000 Drill is conceptually the same design as the existing Intermediate Depth Drill, but with a depth range extended to 3000 meters and drill run length extended from 2-meters to 3-meters.

DISC Drill versus Foro 3000 Analysis
Per discussions between IDPO, IDDO and community scientists, the next deep U.S. ice coring project will likely target Hercules Dome, Antarctica. IDDO, with assistance from Antarctic Support Contract and IDPO, is currently working with community representatives on a DISC Drill versus Foro 3000 Drill analysis, to help determine which system should be used for drilling at Hercules Dome. The analysis results will be summarized into a report for use by NSF and the science community.

Winch Simulator
Following discussions with Mary Albert and PI Ryan Bay, and due to decreased interest by the science community in IDDO purchasing an off-the-shelf winch simulator unit or designing a custom unit, IDDO plans to design a simple simulator circuit for each logging winch in inventory. IDDO envisions providing these circuit designs to PIs for building at their own institutions. PIs could then perform limited pre-deployment testing on their logging tools; however, IDDO will still encourage PIs to travel to Madison to test logging tools on the actual winches to be deployed. IDDO plans to complete design of the simulator circuits by the end of October.

Stampfli 2-Inch Drill
Late in PY 2016, and in response to the U.S. Ice Drilling Program Office Long Range Science Plan, IDDO ordered an off-the-shelf 2-Inch Drill system from Icedrill.ch. IDDO received the Stampfli 2-Inch Drill in April 2017 and completed an initial assembly of the equipment. IDDO is planning to send the very lightweight, agile system to Greenland for field testing in June in conjunction with PI Baker's project (see Field Support to 2017 Arctic Projects above).

Rapid Air Movement (RAM) Drill
The science requirements were finalized for the modification and upgrade to the current Rapid Air Movement (RAM) Drill, which is used to create ~100-meter deep shot holes for seismic exploration. The science requirements target a system capable of drilling as fast as the existing RAM Drill, but at a small fraction of the current system weight. Numerical modeling and testing was initiated during the quarter to identify both the hose and drill head configurations required to achieve the desired results. The science requirements are available on the IDPO-IDDO website at https://icedrill.org/equipment/rapid-air-movement-drill.

Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill
The Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill is a lightweight, field portable hot water drill for drilling through several meters of sediment-laden lake ice. During the quarter, the detailed Conceptual Design for the drill was completed, and the Design Review was held on 4/5/17. The Design Review was a virtual meeting where IDDO presented the Conceptual Design for the drill, and community scientists Peter Doran and Andrew Thurbur provided feedback from the scientist/user perspective, and Dennis Duling provided feedback and recommendations on the technical aspects. Major drill components were purchased in April with consideration of feedback from the review.

Foro 3000 Drill
IDPO led iterative discussions between community scientists and IDDO engineers on the formation of science requirements for extending the Intermediate Depth Drill (IDD) to a 3,000-meter depth capability. The extended depth IDD is referred to as the 'Foro 3000 Drill'. IDDO will develop a Conceptual Design for the Foro 3000 Drill during the third quarter. The Foro 3000 Drill's science requirements are available on the IDPO-IDDO website at http://icedrill.org/equipment/foro-3000-drill.

Stampfli 2-Inch Drill
In late PY 2016, and in response to the U.S. Ice Drilling Program Long Range Science Plan, IDDO procured an off-the-shelf Fast Electromechanical Lightweight Ice Coring System (FELICS) 2-inch coring system from Dieter Stampfli in Switzerland. The Stampfli 2-Inch Drill was purchased to meet requests by the community for a very lightweight, PI-operable system capable of collecting core down to 100-meters depth. IDDO expects to receive the drill during the second quarter.

Rapid Air Movement (RAM) Drill
During the first quarter, IDDO worked with IDPO and community scientists to define the science requirements for intended modifications and upgrades to this drill system. The requirements target a system capable of drilling as fast as the existing Rapid Air Movement (RAM) Drill, but at a small fraction of the current system weight. The speed required is not achievable with double-walled drill rod used in a typical Reverse Circulation drill system. Alternative solutions, including two approaches using a hose like the existing RAM drill, are being analyzed. Numerical models and testing will be used to identify both the hose and drill head configurations required to achieve the desired results. A system-level concept will also be completed.

Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill
IDDO initiated a detailed conceptual design late in the quarter for this new, very portable hot water drilling system. Design activities for the Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill are expected to ramp up early in the second quarter.