SUB-ICE MARINE AND PLANETARY-ANALOG ECOSYSTEMS (SIMPLE) HOT WATER DRILL SYSTEM

In the 2012 and 2014 austral summer field seasons, the Science Management Office (SMO) of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) supported the NASA SIMPLE (Sub-Ice Marine and PLanetary-analog Ecosystems) Project by providing access holes through the McMurdo Ice Shelf using a hot water drill system (HWDS). In 2012, the access hole used by the SIMPLE Project was the Whillans Ice-Stream Sub-glacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) Project test hole near McMurdo Station (77.890278S, 167.00833E), which was provided to the SIMPLE Project after the WISSARD testing was completed. In 2014, a series of holes were made at five (5) different sites on the McMurdo Ice Shelf using the UNL-SMO's roving HWDS, which was moved from site to site with assistance from tractors provided by the US Antarctic Program's logistics provider, Lockheed-Martin Antarctic Support Contractor (ASC). The five sites were occupied in the following order: Site F (77.974228 S, 166.482092 E), Site D (78.011758 S, 166.975683 E), Site B (77.901336 S, 167.276544 E), Site E (78.097928 S, 166.600536 E), and Site C (77.991522 S, 167.210903 E). A planned sixth site was not drilled.