In this video, Dr. Kendrick Taylor takes you inside the drilling arch at WAIS Divide, Antarctica and explains the major features of the DISC Drill.
The DISC Drill is an electromechanical drill system designed to cut and retrieve cores of ice 122mm (4.8 inches) in diameter to depths of 3,800 meters. Because of the great depths, the drill is designed to operate in a drilling fluid, which provides the hydrostatic compensation necessary to prevent closure of the borehole due to the "glaciostatic" pressure of the surrounding ice.
The rotating drill head contains 4 razor sharp cutters that shave out an annulus of ice, which the 14 m long drill slides down into. As the drill slides down into the annulus it slides over the core, which is 12.2 cm in diameter and 2.7 m long. When a cable pulls up the drill, four cams grab the core and fracture it. After the drill is pulled back to the surface, it is lowered from a vertical to a horizontal orientation. An arrow is marked on the core to indicate which side of the core was facing north when the core was in the ice sheet.
For more information about the DISC Drill, visit:
http://icedrill.org/equipment/disc.shtml
Video courtesy of Dr. Kendrick Taylor.
For more information about the WAIS Divide Ice Core Project, visit:
http://waisdivide.unh.edu
