There was a mood of relief in the drillers cabin when it was realized that the drill had freed itself.
June 8, 2023
There was a mood of relief in the drillers cabin when it was realized that the drill had freed itself.
The difficulties for the drilling continued with a short core drilled in the morning and no core retrieved in second attempt. After lunch, a magnet was lowered into the hole to see if a dropped metal part in the hole could be the cause of the problem, but nothing was recovered. After drilling 1.5 m of core at around 20:00 the current suddenly went high and the drill was completely stuck. After more than an hour and several attempts of pulling with up to 2400 kg without any noticeable effect, it was decided to add 2 kg of frozen glycol to the borehole. This is a well-tested technique that was applied at NGRIP and NEEM (in 2010 on July 11 at 2420 m depth) in similar warm temperature situations close to bedrock. The frozen glycol sinks through the cold borehole and dissolve in the warm drill liquid in the deepest part of the hole where it starts to dissolve chips and ice around the drill. While running around in the trench preparing to climb down the inclined trench to dump the glycol, we realized, however, that the drill had freed itself! Just before 22:00, the tension was released and the drill was hanging freely in the borehole. We were all quite relieved. Before midnight, the drill was back at surface in good shape. Nothing special to note, except for traces of refrozen water. Tonight, we will get a good rest and make an easy start tomorrow logging the borehole. In the end, it was a good drill.
What we did today:
Weather today: Still nice weather with blue sky and low winds. Temperatures -25°C to -16°C. Wind 0-10 kt from SSW. A good day for digging a deep hole.
FL, Anders Svensson
Emil and Nico prepared the best pizzas of the entire Greenland ice sheet and we all ate much too much.
Hans has started digging out the two AWS that are almost buried in 3-4 m of snow south of camp.
Tim is doing maintenance of the Pistenbullies. There is a large number of hydraulic and electrical wires to keep track of. Sure enough, there is a thick manual, but it is in German and full of technical terms.
Tim is doing maintenance of the Pistenbullies. There is a large number of hydraulic and electrical wires to keep track of. Sure enough, there is a thick manual, but it is in German and full of technical terms.