Released on 10/01/2009, at 12:25 PM
Office of University Communications, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
BATON ROUGE, La., USA, Oct. 1, 2009 -- Researchers with the Antarctic Geological Drilling Program (ANDRILL) found unexpected evidence of a remarkably warm period in Antarctica 15.7 million years ago.
McMurdo-ANDRILL Science Implementation Committee (M-ASIC) and ANDRILL Science Committee (ASC)
Released on 11/28/2007, at 12:01 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
McMurdo Station, Antarctica, November 28, 2007 -- A second season in Antarctica for the Antarctic Geological Drilling (ANDRILL) Program has exceeded all expectations, according to the co-chief scientists of the program's Southern McMurdo Sound Project.
November 26, 2007
The drilling team drilled down across the 1,000 meter depth mark on 21 November and completed coring with the HQ size drilling string (the middle-size drill pipe; diameter 6.12 cm) to a depth of 1011.08 meters. Core recovery continues to be very high, up to 98% of the cored interval! There is a lot of core to describe, sample and curate, and it just keeps coming up.
November 19, 2007
This week started with the drill bit at a depth of 669.74 meters below sea-floor (mbsf). Core recovery continues to be excellent, usually above 98%. The core displays alternating diamictite with intervening muddy sandstone with variable clasts and interlaminated facies. Macrofossils are sparse (mollusk shells and serpulid worm fragments) and diatoms continue to be present through this depth, their preservation is perhaps aided by silica from encompassing volcanic-rich sediments. Two horizons of c. 2-3 cm-thick pumice lapilli erupted from local volcanoes may be excellent sources of radiogenic ages to help date the SMS core. We anticipate that drilling will continue with the HQ size drill-string until approximately 21 November when the geophysical logging team will then begin their downhole data collection activities. At the end of nightshift, November 19, the HQ drill bit is at 931.16 mbsf.
ANDRILL Media Guide
Updated Nov. 1, 2007
The first phase of ANDRILL sediment coring is proceeding very well and the sea-riser has been successfully and firmly anchored into the sea-floor. The sea-riser is a long tube which allows for drilling fluids to be circulated from the drill rig down to the drilling bit, which is cutting through the sedimentary rocks. The current depth of penetration is about 229 meters below the sea floor.
Welcome to ANDRILL! This is the first in a series of weekly updates from McMurdo Station by the Co-Chief Scientists to report on the progress and activities of the ANDRILL Southern McMurdo Sound (SMS) Project. This report will be a bit longer than future reports, because we summarize the activities of the first 3 weeks, starting from October 4. It has been busy here, but we are now well underway and advancing the drillstring downward and recovering sediment core!
Use ANDRILL as an exciting, integrative part of your classroom.
Follow the research of an international team of scientists and educators from Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United States as they recover stratigraphic records from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.
Six educators from the multi-national ARISE (ANDRILL Research Immersion for Science Educators) team have brought exciting real-world science into your classroom through interactive blogging, video journals, photo collections, and engaging materials produced on the ice with ANDRILL scientists during the October- January drilling season.
Join us as we travel to the coldest, windiest, driest place on earth to study the amazing geologic stories that Antarctica has to tell. Check out the ANDRILL Project Iceberg website at www.andrill.org/iceberg.
We invite you to join us on this exciting adventure. See you there!
During the austral summer of 2007 the
ANDRILL Program is drilling from a sea-ice platform in Southern McMurdo
Sound to obtain new information about the Neogene Antarctic cryosphere
and evolution of Antarctic rift basins. A team of more than 56 on-ice
scientists, engineers, technicians, students and educators are engaged
in the recovery and study of sediment and rock cores recovered by drilling
below the seafloor from a sea-ice platform supporting the drill rig
and field camp. Additional work to characterize these cores is conducted
by the ANDRILL team in the Crary Laboratory of McMurdo Station, and
by groups of collaborators off-ice, working in their home institutions.
The key aim of the SMS Project is to establish a robust history of past Antarctic ice sheet variation and climate evolution that can be integrated into continental and global records toward a better understanding of East Antarctica’s role in the past, present, and future global system. To achieve this aim, one ~1000 meter-deep drillcore will sample an inferred Miocene (0-17 million years ago) and younger sequence of seismic units that expand into the Victoria Land Basin. A new history of land vegetation and sea-ice cover will feed new data into glacial and climate models.
Post-drilling publications
SMS Guide to Participation
Download (hi-res)
Download (low-res)
Download all Non-U.S. Forms
Download the Excess Baggage Request Form
ANDRILL Southern McMurdo Sound Project Scientific Prospectus
