Workshop on Subglacial Rock Drilling, June 19-20, 1997, Pasadena, California

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This award is for one year of support to convene a workshop on subglacial rock drilling in the Antarctic. Only 2% of the Antarctic territory is ice-free and accessible to direct geological sampling and research. Many areas of research have a need to know what kinds of rocks and sediments occur beneath the ice sheet. Most of the processes that lead to fast ice streaming flow are located at the base of the ice sheet and involve basal conditions and basal materials. In fact, active volcanism may be a crucial element of the dynamics of the West Antarctic ice sheet. In addition, much of the paleontological record is stored beneath the ice sheet and is inaccessible to direct sampling. Hence the need seems to be great for drilling access boreholes through the ice to get samples for studying the basal geology and basal conditions. A workshop on subglacial drilling will bring out the interest and need from the scientific community and will allow for an assessment of the presently available technologies. Additional requirements from all parties need to be gathered so that the technology that is developed will be of use for a wide range of interests. The outcome of this workshop will be an implementation plan that will spell out in more detail how to reach the specific scientific goals of the different groups interested in subglacial rock drilling.