Refinements of the UCPH Shallow Drill

In the period 1975 to 1978, UCPH developed their version of the Rand/Rufli shallow drill. The primary objectives of the drill were: ease of handling, light weight and fast site preparation. In order to realize the primary goals, core length is restricted to 90 cm in solid ice.

Based on experience gained from the UCPH deep drill (ISTUK), the shallow drill was modified to enhance the primary goals, that remained unchanged. The modifications included new cutters, introduction of a pitch controlling shoe, introduction of core catchers and improvements to the slip ring assembly in the winch. The modifications have reduced the drill power to 160 W at 70 m depth and 300 W at 300 m depth. The low power used by the drill has enabled it to recover cores at depths exceeding 300 m. Following the same basic layout, a hand auger has been developed.