Antifreeze-Thermal Electrical Drill (ATED)

More than 10,000 m of ice core have been taken in Arctic and Antarctic glaciers (1-5) by ATED. The deepest borehole in Central Antarctica (Komsomolskaya Station) drilled with ATED is 870 m in depth. The ice temperature is -53 degrees Celsius. Drilling was stopped at 800.6 m. After eleven months, drilling operations resumed. Investigation of the ice structure shows that fracture of the ice core due to thermal shock takes place at temperatures below -15 degrees Celsius. Positive results of directional drilling by ATED and other thermal drills in cold and temperate glaciers also exist about 400 m/week. As a test, the first 11 m were drilling during a 24-hour period. The ethanol requirement was 10 to 50 percent of the borehole's volume.