4 000 m DISC深冰芯钻机概述

深冰芯钻探(Deep Ice Sheet Coring, DISC)钻机是美国冰芯钻探服务中心(ICDS)开发研制的一款机电钻机, 设计取芯直径122 mm, 钻取深度4 000 m.该系统由两部分组成,包括机械钻进系统和地面支撑系统. 其中, 机械钻进系统由钻机、 电缆、 钻塔和绞车四部分组成, 钻机是该系统的钻探部分, 由6个不同部件(刀盘、 芯管、 筛管、 电机/水泵、 钻机控制板和顶端)组成; 地面支撑系统包括电源、 控制系统、 冰芯处理系统、 钻井液处理系统、 筛管清洗系统、 辅助设备以及安全设备设施. 2006年夏季ICDS在格陵兰Summit营地对该套钻机系统进行了成功试验, 2011年12月31日在西南极冰原(WAIS Divide)成功获取3 405 m深度的冰芯.实践证明, 该套钻机能够满足目前钻探项目的科学需求. 但是, 在西南极冰原主冰孔不同深度钻取同深度副冰孔冰芯的过程中, 钻刀无法在主冰孔壁上侧向钻取新的冰芯孔, 未能如期获取复制的冰芯样品.

An Overview of the 4 000-m Electromechanical Machine for Deep Ice-Sheet Coring (DISC)

The deep ice sheet coring (DISC) drill, developed by Ice Coring and Drilling Services (ICDS) under contract with the US National Science Foundation, is an electromechanical machine designed to take 122-mm diameter ice cores down to depth of 4 000 m. The drill system consists of mechanical drilling subsystem and surface supporting subsystems. The mechanical drilling subsystem is made up with a drill sonde, a cable, a tower and a winch. The drill sonde is the down-hole portion of the drill system and consists of the following six sections: a cutter head, a core barrel, a sieve tube, a motor/pump section, a control panel and an upper sonde, which includes anti-torques and drill cable terminations. The surface supporting subsystem is a surface power supply, a control system, core processing workbench, drill fluid processing system, sieve tube cleaning system, an ancillary equipment and safety equipment. The drill was successfully tested at the Summit Camp in Greenland in 2006 and collected the final ice core from the WAIS Divide, Antarctica, on December 31, 2011, which was extracted from the bottom of a borehole, 3 405 meters in depth. It proves that the DISC drill is able to satisfy all science requirements. However, the cutters cannot bore a lateral hole on the ice wall to extract new core as a replicated core in WAIS.