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Britain Suspends Exploratory Drilling of Antarctic Lake

Posted by samzenpus on from the ice-is-not-nice dept.

A British plan to blast a path through more than two miles of ice to reach an Antarctic lake has been suspended because of technical problems. From the article: "In a move that clears the way for U.S. and Russian teams to take the lead, Professor Martin Siegert said technical problems and a lack of fuel had forced the closure on Christmas Day of the 7-million-pound ($11 million) project, which was looking for life forms and climate change clues in the lake-bed sediment. 'This is of course, hugely frustrating for us, but we have learned a lot this year,' said Siegert of the University of Bristol, principal investigator for the mission, which was headed by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). 'By the end, the equipment was working well, and much of it has now been fully field-tested,' he said on the BAS website."

6 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Now that the equipment has been shown to work.. by Fusselwurm · · Score: 4, Insightful

    abandoning != suspending

  2. Triple Redundancy by mutantSushi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Given that one of the major controversies here is the danger of contamination of the lake (both for negating the scientific value, and the lake ecosystem itself)... Isn't the pursuance of 3 independent, parallel drilling projects solely in the name of national egos, a minor outrage?

  3. Re:If you want to manufacture something right, by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Germans would give you a highly sophisticated hole, while China would copy that hole and sell millions of cheap holes in the market

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
  4. Re:Let me guess by ankhank · · Score: 2

    > What do you expect ....?

    "... They're afloat in a bubble of pressurized air wedged against the underside of the Antarctic ice sheet: below them stretch the still, supercooled waters of Lake Vostok.
    They're waiting for a rendezvous...."

    A Colder War
    a novelette by Charles Stross
    http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm

  5. Re:Now that the equipment has been shown to work.. by OolimPhon · · Score: 3, Informative

    They are abandoning the project because they don't have enough fuel on site to be able to drill down to the lake.

    This is because they are using hot water to melt their way downwards, which is fine, but much of the water is escaping sideways into cracks in the ice. This means they needed more water to reach their objective. The water has to be melted from ice collected on the surface, and that takes fuel. Not enough fuel: stop wasting everybody's time and money.

  6. Re:Let me guess by robthebloke · · Score: 2

    Nothing that sinister, they just wanted to be back in time for Eastenders.