Ice Core Drilling

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These are the photos I took of the ice core drilling team. They were from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. I found this process to be very interesting. I hope you enjoy them.

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Photos

Drill Gauges
Lou watches these gauges on the machine to know when to drill and when to stop. The one on the top right tells the distance below the surface and the right bottom tells the load on the drill cable.

Running The Drill
Lou is seated running the machine while Bella is kneeling at the drill hole cleaning the ice chips from the outer drill section. They are about remove the inner drill section from the outer drill.

Controlling the Drill
The levers and the dial on the machine control the drill - whether it goes up or down, the speed of the cut.

Controlling the Cut
Lou has her hand on the wheel to ensure that the drill is cutting smoothly. You can feel the friction if the drill is not cutting smoothly.

Moving the Measurement Ribbon
Though the depth is recorded on the machine, as a backup a ribbon is placed on the cable so the driller can tell at a glance when they have reached the undrilled part of the hole and should begin drilling.

Drill Emerges
The drill is just being lifted from the hole by the cable. There is a new ice core inside it.

Removing The Drill From The Hole
Bella and Lou work together to remove the drill from the hole. Then Bella brushes off the ice chips from the outer section of the drill.

Cleaning Off Shavings
The drill is put on the pad and the shavings are brushed off.

Knocking Out the Pin
The inner and outer drill sections are held together by a pin. Bella uses a special tool to knock out the pin, then removes the inner drill section. The outer section remains attached to the cable.

Inner Drill Being Removed
The inner drill section is almost free from the outer drill.

Carrying the Drill to Table
Bella takes the inner drill section (with the core inside) and places it horizontally on the table.

Pushing the Core Out of the Drill
Lou uses a padded stick to push the core out of the inner drill section, while Bella gently guides the core onto a cradle at the other end.

Removing the Core From Drill
The core is moved from the inner drill section to a cradle on the table

Brushing Away the Ice Chips
Jay cleans the ice chips off the core before taking it to the clean room.

Removing Ice Core From Table
Jay removes the Ice core from the table and carries it to the clean zone

Logging The Core
Jay writes down the date, time and other information about the core in his log book.

Measuring The Core
The length of the core is measured. If the core breaks, they also measure each section

Weighing The Core
Jay weighs the core, then records the weight in the log book and on the tag.

Putting The Bag On The Core
The core is slid from a cradle into a long plastic bag.

Labeling The Bagged Core
Jay is labeling the bag. This label tells which end of the core is up and the depth of the top and bottom of the core.

Putting The Bagged Core in Tube
Jay is putting the bagged core into the silver tube to protect it from bumps and breakage and to further insulate it.

Stapling The Bag
The plastic bag is stapled after the core is put into the silver tube.

Labeling the Silver Tube
Jay labels the tube as well as the plastic bag. It tells which core it is, the depth of the top and bottom and which way the top is.

Boxing Up Ice Cores
The silver tubes with the ice cores inside are stored in boxes which are kept very cold. Here Jay is putting the foam insulation back over the cores in the box.

Centering the Drill Over the Hole
Bella guides the drill into the hole in the ice to begin drilling another section of the core.