WP3 – Drilling

WP3 will drill an ice core to bedrock at LDC and will ensure timely provision of the oldest ice core for analysis and interpretation. The layout, equipment and procedures build on the experience the consortium gathered during the EPICA, North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP), NEEM, TALDICE and EGRIP drilling projects. WP3 will closely interact with WP2 to provide operational drilling infrastructure at the drill site as early as possible within the technical, logistical, and financial constraints and to shift into a production mode as quickly as possible after the start of the 'Beyond EPICA' project.

Specific objectives are: i) acquisition of items that have to be purchased with funding from this 'Beyond EPICA' project immediately after the start of the project; ii) timely shipment of the equipment to the drill site; iii) successive installation of the drill environment, pilot-hole, casing and deep drilling equipment immediately following the readiness of the camp infrastructure at the drill site; iv) deep drilling of the ice core to bedrock as fast as possible; v) replicate drilling of the oldest part of the core and sampling of basal ice and - if possible within the given timeframe - bedrock and; vi) deinstallation and return of the drilling equipment after completion of the drilling operation. 

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