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Probe technologies for clean sampling and measurement of subglacial lakes

Probe technologies for clean sampling and measurement of subglacial lakes
Probe technologies for clean sampling and measurement of subglacial lakes
It is 4 years since the subglacial lake community published its plans for accessing, sampling, measuring and studying the pristine, and hitherto enigmatic and very different, Antarctic subglacial lakes, Vostok, Whillans and Ellsworth. This paper summarizes the contrasting probe technologies designed for each of these subglacial environments and briefly updates how these designs changed or were used differently when compared to previously published plans. A detailed update on the final engineering design and technical aspects of the probe for Subglacial Lake Ellsworth is presented. This probe is designed for clean access, is negatively buoyant (350?kg), 5.2?m long, 200?mm in diameter, approximately cylindrical and consists of five major units: (i) an upper power and communications unit attached to an optical and electrical conducting tether, (ii)–(iv) three water and particle samplers, and (v) a sensors, imaging and instrumentation pack tipped with a miniature sediment corer. To date, only in Subglacial Lake Whillans have instruments been successfully deployed. Probe technologies for Subglacial Lake Vostok (2014/15) and Lake Ellsworth (2012/13) were not deployed for technical reasons, in the case of Lake Ellsworth because hot-water drilling was unable to access the lake during the field season window. Lessons learned and opportunities for probe technologies in future subglacial access missions are discussed.
1364-503X
20150267
Mowlem, Matt
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Saw, Kevin
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Brown, Robin
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Waugh, Edward
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Cardwell, Christopher L.
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Wyatt, James
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Magiopoulos, Iordanis
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Keen, Peter
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Campbell, Jon
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Rundle, Nicholas
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Gkritzalis-Papadopoulos, Athanasios
0e124930-39b6-4863-b021-1dd62c7a8a17
Mowlem, Matt
6f633ca2-298f-48ee-a025-ce52dd62124f
Saw, Kevin
aba28de9-80bc-426f-8b96-22d637550649
Brown, Robin
05dae093-368d-42a6-a34e-ca89a61138fb
Waugh, Edward
45768ed1-3aa2-453e-99bf-b972cf77c066
Cardwell, Christopher L.
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Wyatt, James
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Magiopoulos, Iordanis
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Keen, Peter
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Campbell, Jon
ccdf3dec-f651-4d59-96d7-41859f78abe5
Rundle, Nicholas
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Gkritzalis-Papadopoulos, Athanasios
0e124930-39b6-4863-b021-1dd62c7a8a17

Mowlem, Matt, Saw, Kevin, Brown, Robin, Waugh, Edward, Cardwell, Christopher L., Wyatt, James, Magiopoulos, Iordanis, Keen, Peter, Campbell, Jon, Rundle, Nicholas and Gkritzalis-Papadopoulos, Athanasios (2016) Probe technologies for clean sampling and measurement of subglacial lakes. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 374 (2059), 20150267. (doi:10.1098/rsta.2015.0267).

Record type: Article

Abstract

It is 4 years since the subglacial lake community published its plans for accessing, sampling, measuring and studying the pristine, and hitherto enigmatic and very different, Antarctic subglacial lakes, Vostok, Whillans and Ellsworth. This paper summarizes the contrasting probe technologies designed for each of these subglacial environments and briefly updates how these designs changed or were used differently when compared to previously published plans. A detailed update on the final engineering design and technical aspects of the probe for Subglacial Lake Ellsworth is presented. This probe is designed for clean access, is negatively buoyant (350?kg), 5.2?m long, 200?mm in diameter, approximately cylindrical and consists of five major units: (i) an upper power and communications unit attached to an optical and electrical conducting tether, (ii)–(iv) three water and particle samplers, and (v) a sensors, imaging and instrumentation pack tipped with a miniature sediment corer. To date, only in Subglacial Lake Whillans have instruments been successfully deployed. Probe technologies for Subglacial Lake Vostok (2014/15) and Lake Ellsworth (2012/13) were not deployed for technical reasons, in the case of Lake Ellsworth because hot-water drilling was unable to access the lake during the field season window. Lessons learned and opportunities for probe technologies in future subglacial access missions are discussed.

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Probe technologies for sterile sampling and measurement of subglacial lakes - no track changes.docx - Accepted Manuscript
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Published date: January 2016
Organisations: Ocean Technology and Engineering

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 386408
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/386408
ISSN: 1364-503X
PURE UUID: 675b4de5-2de6-437f-ba6e-49dbafc0658e
ORCID for Matt Mowlem: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7613-6121

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Date deposited: 25 Jan 2016 11:32
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:02

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Contributors

Author: Matt Mowlem ORCID iD
Author: Kevin Saw
Author: Robin Brown
Author: Edward Waugh
Author: Christopher L. Cardwell
Author: James Wyatt
Author: Iordanis Magiopoulos
Author: Peter Keen
Author: Jon Campbell
Author: Nicholas Rundle
Author: Athanasios Gkritzalis-Papadopoulos

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