Drill projects set to expand sub-surface climate knowledge

Dr Patrick Harkness and Dr Kevin Worrall from the James Watt School of Engineering are leading the engineering research on a projected titled INCISED which is headed to Antarctica, and the ESA-funded Deeper project to build a collapsible drill for sample collection on other planets.

Engineers use hot water to drill two kilometre hole in Antarctic ice

Led by Durham University and funded by the European Research Council, INCISED will use Glasgow University’s Percussive Rapid Access Isotope Drill (P-RAID) drill technology, which was developed in collaboration with Durham University and the British Antarctic Survey, to take samples of bedrock from underneath the ice sheet.

P-RAID is said to be a rotary-percussive device that can be lowered from the polar surface to the bedrock. According to Glasgow University, the drill’s hammering action is carefully controlled by an autonomous system and uses as little force as possible.

Once the rock samples are returned to the UK, they will undergo isotope analysis at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) in East Kilbride. The results will help scientists to learn more about when the rocks were last exposed by retreating ice, which will improve future climate models and expand understanding on how much sea level rise could be expected in a warmer world.