Relevelling the rig

The SWAIS2C day shift awoke to fog today, making it hard to differentiate between the snow and the sky. It was a successful day’s drilling, with some long cores pulled up. The team had to pause to relevel the Antarctic Intermediate Depth Drill rig. 

The rig sits on flitch beams, and with melting occuring during some warm days, and the weight of the drill string, it had sunk a little into the firn (the snow layer at the top of the ice sheet). The team lifted the rig and added blocks to make everything level and ready to go again. It was also an opportunity to freshen up the snow around the rig to remove any icy patches and fill any holes. 

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Project updates
Core workshop gets underway

Core workshop gets underway

03 June 2026

We’ve just opened the best present ever – our first sediment core, retrieved from under the West Antarctic Ice Sheet last season.

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Media clippings
Deepest-ever rock core extracted from under Antarctic ice sheet

Deepest-ever rock core extracted from under Antarctic ice sheet

18 February 2026

Analyses will help to reveal how far the West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreated in the past — and what it might do in the future.

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