Mesmerizing GoPro Footage of a Journey Down a 900 Meter Deep Hot-Water Drilled Borehole in the Antarctic

In 2017, the scientists of the British Antarctic Survey project BEAMISH drilled a 900 meter (2,953 feet) borehole into the Rutford Ice Stream in order to understand how fast the ice was melting, the deformation of the ice as it flows downstream and how well the ice sheet is holding up. The project captured absolutely amazing footage of the journey down this hot-water drilled holes with a GoPro camera.

BEAMISH tackles two aspects of uncertainty; first, the past behaviour of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and second, the flow of the fast “ice streams” that drain it. Through measurements at the ice surface, and by drilling to the bed of Rutford Ice Stream, we will find how long ago the ice sheet last disappeared completely, and how water and soft sediments underneath it helped the ice move fast on its journey to eventually melting in the sea.

More recently, the project hot-water drilled down over two kilometers into the same ice stream with similarly amazing results.

via Digg

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.