Dry Valley Drilling Project Research Articles

Geological drilling in McMurdo Dry Valleys and McMurdo Sound, Antarctica: Historical development

Geologically, Antarctica is the least explored place on earth. A thick ice sheet covers 98% of the continent, the environment is harsh, and the movement of people and equipment is difficult and costly. Yet in recent decades the McMurdo Sound region has attracted intensive geological drilling because it is crucial for better understanding of past ice sheet behavior, including the evolution of both the East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets. Drilling started with the Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP) in 1973, resulting in 15 boreholes ranging in depth from 4 to 381m. The last hole, DVDP-15, was drilled in 1975 from the local fast sea-ice covering McMurdo Sound. Since then, eight offshore sites (MSSTS, CIROS-2, CIROS-1, CRP-1, CRP-2/2A, CRP-3, AND-1B, AND-2A) have been cored, with much experience gained in both operational support and drilling procedures. Penetration depth has increased from 64.6m (DVDP-15, 1975) to 1284.9m (AND-1B, 2006) below the seafloor. This paper reviews both onshore and offshore geological drilling in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and McMurdo Sound, focusing on special aspects of drilling operations, drilling problems, and possible solutions. The paper also includes the brief introduction of the challenging Coulman High Project, which proposes to use the fast-moving Ross Ice Shelf as a drilling platform. Finally, recommendations are given for future planners regarding (1) operating and logistical problems in Antarctic harsh environment; (2) drilling complications in permafrost; (3) drill bit design; (4) possible land, sea ice and ice shelf platforms; (5) sea riser structure, and (6) drilling fluid composition.

Storage and Evolution of Mafic and Intermediate Alkaline Magmas beneath Ross Island, Antarctica

We present the results of phase equilibrium experiments carried out on basanite and phonotephrite lavas from Ross Island, Antarctica. Experiments were designed to reproduce the P–T–X–f O 2 conditions of deep and intermediate magma storage and to place constraints on the differentiation of each of the two predominant lava suites on the island, which are thought to be derived from a common parent melt. The Erebus Lineage (EL) consists of lava erupted from the Erebus summit and the Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP) lineage is represented by lavas sampled by drill core on Hut Point Peninsula. Experiments were performed in internally heated pressure vessels over a range of temperatures (1000–1150°C) and pressures (200–400 MPa), under oxidized conditions (NNO to NNO + 3, where NNO is the nickel–nickel oxide buffer), with XH2O of the H 2 O–CO 2 mixture added to the experimental capsule varying between zero and unity. The overall mineralogy and mineral compositions of the natural lavas were reproduced, suggesting oxidizing conditions for the deep magma plumbing system, in marked contrast to the reducing conditions (QFM to QFM – 1, where QFM is the quartz–fayalite–magnetite buffer) in the Erebus lava lake. In basanite, crystallization of spinel is followed by olivine and clinopyroxene; olivine is replaced by kaersutitic amphibole below ∼1050°C at intermediate water contents. In phonotephrite, the liquidus phase is kaersutite except in runs with low water content ( X H 2 O fluid < 0·2) where it is replaced by clinopyroxene. Experimental kaersutite compositions suggest that the amphibole-bearing DVDP lavas differentiated below 1050°C at 200–400 MPa and NNO + 1·5 to NNO + 2. Olivine- and clinopyroxene-bearing EL lavas are consistent with experiments performed above 1050°C and pressures around 200 MPa. The plagioclase liquidus at <1–2 wt % H 2 O suggests extremely dry conditions for both lineages ( X H 2 O fluid approaching zero for EL, ∼0·25 for DVDP), probably facilitated by dehydration induced by a CO 2 -rich fluid phase. Our results agree with previous studies that suggest a single plumbing system beneath Ross Island in which DVDP lavas (and probably other peripheral volcanic products) were erupted through radial fractures associated with the ascent of parental magma into the lower crust. The longer travel time of the DVDP lavas through the crust owing to lateral movement along fractures and the lack of a direct, sustained connection to the continuous CO 2 -rich gas flux that characterizes the main central Erebus conduit is probably responsible for the lower temperatures and slightly wetter conditions and hence the change in mineralogy observed.

Neogene stratigraphy of Taylor Valley, Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica: Evidence for climate dynamism and a vegetated Early Pliocene coastline of McMurdo Sound

Understanding of Neogene climate in Antarctica has been an intractable problem for over 20 years. Competing models of the effect of Pliocene climatic warmth have not yet been reconciled. New sedimentological and paleontological data from Dry Valley Drilling Project core (DVDP-10) demonstrate a dynamic climate regime for the early and mid-Pliocene record preserved in the floor of Taylor Valley. This succession of interbedded mudrocks, sandstones, conglomerates and diamictites includes evidence for times when the coastal plain landscape of Taylor Valley may have been vegetated by higher land plants. Biostratigraphic data from DVDP-10 are utilized to correlate to the more detailed and finely resolved record in the AND-1B core in southern McMurdo Sound. Accordingly, the interval in DVDP-10 that records dynamic environmental fluctuations with a possible vegetated coastal plain land system is bracketed at 4.92–4.25Ma. These data suggest that low altitude terrains of the Dry Valleys during the Early Pliocene were subjected to glacial-interglacial cycles in which some interglacials were largely ice-free.

A Sr, Nd, Hf, and Pb isotope perspective on the genesis and long-term evolution of alkaline magmas from Erebus volcano, Antarctica

We report new Nd, Hf, Sr, and high-precision Pb isotopic data for 44 lava and tephra samples from Erebus volcano. The samples cover the entire compositional range from basanite to phonolite and trachyte, and represent all three phases of the volcanic evolution from 1.3 Ma to the present. Isotopic analyses of 7 samples from Mt. Morning and the Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP) are given for comparison. The Erebus volcano samples have radiogenic 206Pb/ 204Pb, unradiogenic 87Sr/ 86Sr, and intermediate 143Nd/ 144Nd and 176Hf/ 177Hf, and lie along a mixing trajectory between the two end-member mantle components DMM and HIMU. The Erebus time series data show a marked distinction between the early-phase basanites and phonotephrites, whose Nd, Hf, Sr, and Pb isotope compositions are variable (particularly Pb), and the current ‘phase-three’ evolved phonolitic lavas and bombs, whose Nd, Hf, Sr, and Pb isotope compositions are essentially invariant. Magma mixing is inferred to play a fundamental role in establishing the isotopic and compositional uniformity in the evolved phase-three phonolites. In-situ analyses of Pb isotopes in melt inclusions hosted in an anorthoclase crystal from a 1984 Erebus phonolite bomb and in an olivine from a DVDP basanite are uniform and identical to the host lavas within analytical uncertainties. We suggest that, in both cases, the magma was well mixed at the time melt inclusions were incorporated into the different mineral phases.

Provenance of the Sirius Group and related Upper Cenozoic glacial deposits from the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica: relation to landscape evolution and ice-sheet drainage

Abstract This study uses bulk X-ray diffraction (XRD), heavy mineral analysis and analysis of detrital modes of the Sirius Group and related Upper Cenozoic deposits to evaluate their provenance. The data suggest that deposition of the Sirius Group occurred as a result of long-term glacial denudation of the Transantarctic Mountains. Such a conclusion is in contrast with the traditional view of deposition on a pre-existing high relief glacial topography during one relatively short-term phase of glacial expansion by the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Two petrofacies are distinguished, which have different geomorphological settings and paleo-ice flow directions. One petrofacies includes much material from the higher elevated sedimentary sequences of the Transantarctic Mountains and represents overriding of the mountains and deposition of part of the Sirius Group during or after the late Oligocene to early Miocene. The second petrofacies is characterized by a large input from crystalline basement sources and represents active erosion and deposition in glacial troughs during the Neogene. The second petrofacies of the Sirius Group shows similarities to the record from Dry Valley Drilling Project core 11 (DVDP-11), which indicates that East Antarctic ice was last flowing through the Dry Valleys in the late Miocene to early Pliocene.

Mineralogy and Geochemistry of a Basanite to Phonolite Sequence at Hut Point Peninsula, Antarctica, based on Core from Dry Valley Drilling Project Drillholes 1, 2 and 3

Mineralogy and Geochemistry of a Basanite to Phonolite Sequence at Hut Point Peninsula, Antarctica, based on Core from Dry Valley Drilling Project Drillholes 1, 2 and 3

A Review of the Dry Valley Drilling Project, 1971–76

The Dry Valleys of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, lying some 75 km west of McMurdo station, form an arid, ice-free area of roughly 2 500 km2. Since the late 1950s, this region has provided a remarkable opportunity for geoscientific studies of the exposed surface rocks, within easy reach of logistic support at McMurdo and Scott bases on Ross Island (Fig 1). As a result of a study of Lake Vanda in the Wright Valley, which began during the 1963–64 summer field season, scientists from the United States, New Zealand and Japan supported the view that further advances in our knowledge of the Dry Valleys would require an examination of the unconsolidated material, and the geothermal regime at lake sites, using direct shallow drilling techniques. As drilling techniques and interestin the geological history of the McMurdo region as a whole (encompassing the Transantarctic Mountains, Ross Island, McMurdo Sound and the Dry Valleys) developed, an international, multidisciplinary project—the Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP)—was conceived. By 1969 the US National Science Foundation (NSF) had decided to coordinate proposals from scientists wishing to drill the first intermediate and deep cores into the sediment and rock of Antarctica; the aim, a reconstruction of Antarctic geological history that traditional surface or near-surface studies alone could never achieve. Initially, the approach was to be a sub-surface physical, chemical and biological examination of theDry Valleys, but as the project developed it encompassed studies of the Ross Island volcanic complex and McMurdo Sound sediments.

Some Aspects of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition

In the austral summer of 1911-1912, Lieutenant Shirase organized the first Japanese Antarctic Expedition and explored the eastern part of Ross Ice Shelf and a part of Edward VII Peninsula. After that, only a few bibliographical studies were conducted by some scholars and people who are interested in polar expeditions. Japan resumed its Antarctic activity on the occasion of the International Geophysical Year in 1957-1958. Since then, multi-disciplinary scientific investigations have been continued within the framework of international cooperation.The progress of the earth science research in the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition can be devided chronologically into four stages. In the first stage from 1957 to 1968, the research in earth science provided fundamental knowledge on the environment of the vast region around the Japanese Scientific Station ‘Syowa’ in Liitzow-Holm Bay, East Antarctica, through extensive studies conducted by oversnow traverses and field surveys in ice-free areas. General geology and geomorphology of the eastern Lutzow-Holm Bay area and the inland Yamato Mountains, surface features of the ice sheet from Syowa to South Pole, and some ice thickness profiles by seismic shooting gradually came to our knowledge through this stage.During the second stage in 1969-1975, the research programme became rather intensive, based on a systematic planning. The main research project was the Glaciological Research Programme in Mizuho Plateau. Glaciological oversnow traverses were carried out for the studies of mass budget in a local drainage basin of the ice sheet and the ice sheet dynamics. The drilling of the ice sheet was also conducted at the inland Mizuho Station. In addition, geological, geomorphological and geochemical studies were also made on a smaller scale. The finding of the “Yamato Meteorites” was one of the main results.In the third stage in 1976/1978, the main programme of the expedition was the upper atmosphere physics during the International Magnetospheric Studies. Therefore, earth science studies were done on a smaller scale, as a sort of supplementary investigation.In 1979, research activities entered into the fourth stage. The glaciology programme were combined together for the study of interaction in heat and mass transfer among the ice sheet, the atmosphere, and the surrounding ocean, in the international POLEX SOUTH programme. The earth science programmes, as one of the two major projects in this period, cover the integrated investigation of geology, solid earth geophysics, and marine geology and geomorphology.On the other hand, the research in South Victoria Land has been continued by Japanese parties since 1963/1964, with logistic support by the United States and New Zealand. The geochemistry had been the main research field, culminated in the international Dry Valley Drilling Project from 1973 to 1975. From 1976/1977 to 1978/1979 austral summer, a search for Antarctic meteorites became the main theme as the U.S.-Japan joint project, which terminated in successful results.

Late Pleistocene glacial chronology of the Taylor Valley, Antarctica, and the global climate

Carbonate-rich lacustrine and deltaic deposits, containing thin beds of finely laminated carbonates and thick beds of silt, crop out at several sites in the Taylor Valley and have been encountered in cores obtained by the Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP). Fragments of the more indurated carbonate beds have widespread occurrence as part of the desert “lag gravel” which covers much of the valley floor. Analysis of the carbonates suggests that they were deposited as algal limestones from waters derived from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet via the Taylor Glacier at times which correspond to the previous three global interglacial periods, as evidenced by the ice volumes deduced from oxygen-isotopic analysis of oceanic cores. The lacustrine carbonates have been found up to 30 km beyond the present terminus of the Taylor Glacier, and up to 100 m above the level of Lake Bonney, into which the Taylor Glacier at present discharges. It is concluded that the Taylor Glacier has advanced during each of the previous three interglaciations, and it is suggested that this has been caused by a thickening of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet during the interglaciations.

Lake Vanda (Antarctica) revisited

Abstract The warm water, with temperatures up to 25°c, found near the bottom of the ice-covered Lake Vanda in Victoria Land, Antarctica, has prompted a number of papers suggesting possible heating mechanisms. The Dry Valley Drilling Project site on Lake Vanda during the 1973–74 summer enabled temperatures in the lake sediment and underlying granite bedrock to be measured, offering a possibility of determining the source of heat. Data of previous workers and the present measurements extending over nine months of 1974 shows that the heating mechanism is solar radiation. The temperature gradient beneath the lake confirms that there is a net loss of heat from the lake bottom, while a slab model of the lower lake temperature profile based on solar heating is consistent with the measured temperature profile. These results appear to eliminate the possibility of geothermal heating.

Geochemical Studies on the Minerals Obtained by Dry Valley Drilling Project

Geochemical Studies on the Minerals Obtained by Dry Valley Drilling Project

Report of the Dry Valley Drilling Project, 1975-76

Report of the Dry Valley Drilling Project, 1975-76

Global warming trend?

Paul E. Damon, professor of Geosciences at the University of Arizona, and Steven M. Kunen, senior environmental chemist at the University of Utah Research Institute, reported in their paper on recent climatic changes in the southern hemisphere (presented at the Dry Valley Drilling Project Meeting held January 13–15, 1976, at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand) that a warming trend in the southern hemisphere may be more than offsetting the observed cooling in the high northern latitudes. Their position is based on their analysis of data gathered at 67 southern hemisphere stations, including 6 in Antarctica. Except for regional fluctuations, there was no significant change in temperature from the equator to 45°S. However, there was a warming trend in Australia and New Zealand, and there was a strong suggestion of a marked warming trend at higher southern latitudes that may exceed the cooling trend in the high northern latitudes in magnitude.

Antarctic Dry Valley Drilling Project: Report on Seminar 2

An interdisciplinary science seminar on the Japanese, New Zealand, and American sponsored Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP) was hosted by the Antarctic Research Center and the Geology Department of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, January 13–15, 1976.The seminar, like the first one held in Seattle in May 1974, was designed to be a forum for scientists, administrators, and support personnel to report on achievements of the project to date and to consider future drilling in Antarctica. Seventy‐ one people attended the conference.

Antarctic Dry Valley Drilling Project: Report on Seminar 1

An Interdisciplinary science seminar on the antarctic Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP) of Japan, New Zealand, and the United States (McGinnis et al., 1972) was hosted by the Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, in Seattle, May 29 to 31, 1974. The seminar was held to provide a forum for scientists, adminstrators, and support personnel to report on achievements of the project to date and to finalize drill sites for 1974–1975.The seminar is one of many supported through the U.S./Japan Cooperative Science Program. It was jointly sponsored by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the U.S. National Science Foundation. The area involved in DVDP studies is shown in Figure 1.

Geochemical studies on the minerals obtained by Dry Valley Drilling Project

Geochemical studies on the minerals obtained by Dry Valley Drilling Project

Geologic log of the Lake Vida core : DVDP6. Figs, Tabls, 3R. Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP) Bulletin, N3, June, 1974, P92–108

Geologic log of the Lake Vida core : DVDP6. Figs, Tabls, 3R. Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP) Bulletin, N3, June, 1974, P92–108

Antarctic Geologic History Investigated by Diamond Drilling

After two seasons of drilling in antarctic permafrost, the Dry Valley Drilling Project has recovered more than 1,300 m of glacial, lacustrine, volcanic, and basement rock representing a cross section of geology in the McMurdo Sound region.

Dry Valley Drilling Project

The Dry Valley Drilling Project is designed to investigate the history of Antarctica in the region of McMurdo Sound through the recovery of core. The project, sponsored by the United States, New Zealand, and Japan, has drilled a 201‐m hole and a 179‐m hole on Ross Island and will drill to depths up to 300 m in the dry valleys during the forthcoming field season. In the final drilling season (1974–1975) a 1500‐m hole in McMurdo Sound will be drilled from annual sea ice.During the 1972–1973 austral field season, two holes were drilled to depths of 201.17 m and 179.40 m in the volcanic rocks on Ross Island, Antarctica, as the initial drilling phase of the Dry Valley Drilling Project. The sites were located near McMurdo Station to minimize logistics problems and t o test the feasibility of drilling in broken permafrost volcanic rocks. Within this framework the holes on Ross Island were located so as to maximize scientific returns for geologists, hydrologists, geophysicists, geomorphologists, and others. Previously, drilling in bedrock in Antarctica had been limited to 20 m for foundation studies for the nuclear power plan at McMurdo Station and foundation studies at Scott Base.

Dry Valley Drilling Project

As a consequence of recent meetings held in New Zealand and Antarctica by science and administrative coordinators from Japan. New Zealand, and the United States, a three‐year drilling project (1972–1975) in the Dry Valleys region of Antarctica has been proposed and approved. The project (Dry Valley Drilling Project) is to be funded, in part, by the National Science Foundation and by antarctic research groups from Japan and New Zealand, using McMurdo station as a base of operations. The project, in addition to the advantages of having international support, will be multidisciplinary and will include ten boreholes drilled to a maximum depth of 600 meters. Recommended drill sites include: Ross Island into McMurdo volcanics; McMurdo Sound into interbedded marine, glacial, and volcanic deposits; Marble Point metamorphics; Lake Vida in Victoria Valley; Don Juan Pond in Wright Valley; Lake Vanda in Wright Valley; mouth of Taylor Valley near the coast; Lake Fryxell in Taylor Valley; Lake Bonney in Taylor Valley; and Walcott glacier area It is hoped that collection of continuous core from these site locations will enable scientists to develop a better working knowledge of the physical and biological history of the antarctic continent, from Precambrian time to the present.