ANtarctic DRILLing and the CoreWall Suite

Richard LevyANDRILL Science Management OfficeUniv. of Nebraska-Lincoln

1. Introduction and Brief Overview of ANDRILL Program

OUTLINE

2. Inaugural ANDRILL Projects and CoreWallProject schedule - drilling and post drillingResearch locations - on and off-iceCore flow and integration of data

3. Education and OutreachARISECoreWall ‘Lite’

Recovering proximal records of ice sheet and climate history to complete the global climate puzzle

http://andrill.org

BUILDING ON A LEGACY

PROXIMAL RECORDS

GLACIALEUSTASY

ARGINS

• Obtain new and unique records of Cenozoic environmental change, proximal to ice sheets

• Test and calibrate chemostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic proxy records

• Provide geological data input to glacial and climate models.

ANTARCTICCRYO-CYCLOSTRATIGRAPHY

DEEP-SEA OXYGENISOTOPE RECORD

SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHYFROM CONTINENTAL MARGINS

DISTAL PROXIES

NATURE AND TIMING OF ICE SHEET VARIABILITY

INAUGURAL PROJECTS

The key aim of the MIS Project is to determine past ice shelf responses to climate forcing, including variability at a range of timescales.

?1 Ma

?5 Ma

MCMURDO ICE-SHELF PROJECT - 2006

The key aim of the SMS Project is to establish a robust middle Miocene to recent history of past Antarctic ice sheet variation and climate evolution

SMS-X

1.0

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5TWT (s)

1.1

1.2

Unit 3b: Lithofacies likely include muddy sandstone and sandy mudstone; finer grained, pelagic sediments increasing in the downdip direction.

Unit 3c: Sandy mudstone, muddy sandstone, minor pelagic sediments.

Unit 4: Diamitite, sandy mudstone, muddy sandstone in the upper section, and sandy mudstone in the lower section.

Unit 5: Diamitite and fine grained sediment.

Unit 6: Volcanic sand and glacial sediment; muddy sandstone and sandy mudstone.

Expected lithofacies.

3b

3c

5

4

6

SOUTHERN MCMURDO SOUND PROJECT - 2007

DRILLING TECHNOLOGY

Alex Pyne - VUW

Leon Holloway

100_???? T Falconer

Hot Water Drill Boilers/Hoses/Tanks

Guy wires for mast

Power pack

Rod ramp Catwalk

Drill fluids & cementing

Outriggers

Workshop

Generators

Plan view of Drill System

Outriggers

Containers butt up against catwalk (L to R):

Cementing/water

Drill fluids (mud) x2

Workshop

Generators

Power pack

DRILL RIG, PLATFORM, AND CATWALK

Sea riser max. depth of 1000m (water & ice)

Max depth of HWT (PQ) drill string 1230m

Max depth of HQ drill string 1700m

Max depth of NQ drill string 2500m

Sea floor: Detail of nesting sea riser and drill strings

(ANDRILL system at right)

THROUGH THE ICE-SHELF

MIS DRILLING BEGINS SOON

RESEARCH LOCATIONS - DRILLING PHASE

45+

~10

30+

TRANSPORT TO MCMURDO STATION

CoreStorageFacility

CSEC Phase 2

S+SF

Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center (CSEC)

SCIENCE OPS - MCMURDO STATION

SPLITTING FACILITY

SCANNING FACILITY

LOGGING

PSICAT

Paleontological Stratigraphic Interval Construction and Analysis Tool

CORE TOUR AND SAMPLING

COREWALL ‘HOPES’ - OCTOBER 2006

ID: 555667

Massimo Pompilio

Univ. of Pisa

Clast and fabric

1. High resolution core images (inc. CoreScan)2. Integration - PSICAT3. Sample identification and details - ARF database(?)4. Ability to share data (securely) in ‘near-real time’

between all research sites

COREWALL ‘HOPES’ - MARCH/APRIL 2007

ID: 555667

Massimo Pompilio

Univ. of Pisa

Clast and fabric

LAUNDRY LIST: e.g. clast count curve (total number per meter), downhole geophysics suite, rock petrophysics suite, XRF, paleomag, diatom abundance curves, CONOP, etc, etc.

A. ingens??

CORE WORKSHOP AND INITIAL REPORT

CoreWall here!

COREWALL ‘LITE’