Ice core drilling on Southern Patagonia Icefield -Development of a new portable drill and the field expedition in 1999-

• Main Authors: Shiro Kohshima, Takayuki Shiraiwa, Maria Angelica Godoi, Keiji Kubota, Nozomu Takeuchi, Kunio Shinbori
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Bioscience and Biotechnology, c/o Faculty of Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology/Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University/Direccion de Programas Antarticos, Instituto de la Patagonia, Universidad de Magallanes/Graduate School of Earth Environmental Science, Hokkaido University/Faculty of Bioscience and Biotechnology, c/o Faculty of Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology/Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University 2002
• Subjects: Patagonia; ice core; Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=2429; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00002429/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=2429&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

A 45.97m-deep drilling operation was carried out during November/December 1999 on the accumulation area of Tyndall glacier (50°59′05″S, 73°31′12″W, 1756m a. s. l.) at the southern end of the Southern Patagonia Icefield. A portable electromechanical drilling system was developed for ice-coring on temperate glaciers which often have aquifers near the pore-close off depths. The firn-core obtained was subjected to visual stratigraphic observations and bulk-density measurements. Preliminary results suggest an extremely high accumulation rate (about 12-14m a^<-1> w. e.) at the drilling site. The drilling operation was strenuous because of the continuous strong wind and enormous snowfall which forced the members to survive for nearly three weeks in a snow cave before evacuation.