Speaker
Peter Neff
(University of Minnesota)
Description
Since the early 2000s, multiple attempts have been made to recover an ice core to bedrock at Combatant Col (51.39ºN, 125.26ºW, 3000 m elevation) beneath Mt. Waddington in the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Temperate glacier conditions and a firn aquifer at the site are a challenge for ice core drilling, but the US Ice Drilling Program 3-inch Thermal Drill has proven successful at coring in water-filled boreholes at the site. A pilot core was recovered in 2006 (65 m), a first bedrock attempt in 2010 halted at 141 m after refreezing of water in the borehole, and a 219 m long core was recovered in 2023 and assumed to terminate near bedrock. We describe lessons learned through efforts at the site over the years.
Primary author
Peter Neff
(University of Minnesota)
Co-authors
Dr
Brian Menounos
(University of Northern British Columbia)
Bridget Hall
(University of Minnesota)
Dr
Douglas Clark
(Western Washington University)
Elizabeth Morton
(US Ice Drilling Program)
Dr
Eric Steig
(University of Washington)
Jess Ackermann
(US Ice Drilling Program)
Jim Koehler
(US Ice Drilling Program)
Julia Andreasen
(University of Minnesota)
