Cryoegg works under pressure beneath ice

The deep, high-pressure zones beneath Greenland’s glaciers control how the arctic ice responds to the increasing temperatures caused by climate change, and contributes to rising sea levels.

However, studying this deep, hostile environment is extremely difficult with existing technology.

Now researchers at Cardiff University are developing a wireless sensing device, dubbed Cryoegg, to measure and characterise the liquid water beneath the ice sheets, in a bid to help scientists to predict future environmental change.

The EPSRC-funded project, led by Dr Liz Bagshaw, is developing and testing the sphere-shaped device, capable of collecting water measurements below 2.5km of ice and transmitting the data back to the surface via a radio frequency (RF) transmitter.

The environment beneath the glaciers is currently investigated using cabled sensors implanted into narrow boreholes. However, fast-flowing ice can stretch and eventually break these cables, meaning valuable data is lost, Bagshaw said.

In designing the Cryoegg, the team had to develop a device robust enough to collect measurements of water beneath the ice and be free to move around within the sub-surface meltwater.