The ANDRILL drilling system is based around a drilling rig constructed by Universal Drill Rigs (UDR) in Brisbane. This type of rig is commonly used in minerals drilling, but has been customized for ANDRILL scientific requirements and for Antarctic conditions.

The drill system developed by the ANDRILL Program represents a significant technological evolution from the highly successful Cape Roberts Project drill system. The drill system has the capacity to operate on both shore-fast-ice and ice shelf platforms and to recover continuous long stratigraphic records (up to 1500 m) from water depths of up to 1000 m.

The ANDRILL McMurdo Ice Shelf (MIS) Project drilled from an 85-meter -thick ice shelf platform in 943 meters of water, and reached a total depth of 1284.87 m with 98% core recovery. The ANDRILL Southern McMurdo Sound (SMS) Project drilled from the surface of a floating sea-ice platform (8.5 m thick) over a 384 m water column and reached a depth of 1138.54 m with similar success of high core recovery.

The entire system can be broken down into components allowing transport on sledges. The rig components can be airlifted. Some parts of the system, such as the drill platform and catwalk, have been designed and fabricated to incorporate sledge bases for ease of transportation across snow and ice.

Specifications

For further information about the drilling system, see http://www.andrill.org/technology/rig

See further technology developments at http://www.apple.com/science/profiles/andrill/