Challenges facing missions by drilling into permafrost on Mars

Details Challenges facing missions by drilling into permafrost on Mars Challenges facing missions by drilling into permafrost on Mars

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.p54a..03o&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #P54A-03

Biology

5200 Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology, 5419 Hydrology And Fluvial Processes, 5422 Ices, 5462 Polar Regions, 5494 Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

A scientific drilling expedition was recently completed in the High Lake mining property (67°22'N, 110 50'W), and Mars analog site located in an Archean, mafic volcanic belt and frozen to a depth of ~400 meters. The goal was to delineate gradients in salinity, gas concentration, pH, pe, microbial abundance, community structure and activity and of isolating pristine subpermafrost brine for future studies. Using a 75 mm diameter, triple barrel wire line tool and following aseptic QA/QC protocols 200 meters of core were collected from the lower boundary between permafrost and saline water. Fresh water heated to 80oC was used to remove cuttings and from keeping the drill rods from freezing to the uncased frozen rock. At 400 PSI bit pressure the rate of penetration was ~30 m/day. Anomalies in water conductivity or gas concentrations in the drilling water were absent during penetration of the permafrost. Various measurements including the rate of freezing at the bit was used to indicate the down-hole temperature and when the permafrost zone had been traversed. Once coring reached 485 m depth, the drill rods were removed and casing was set to a depth of 290 m to protect the borehole from melt water draining from above. Water was bailed from the hole in order to lower the water table into unfrozen conditions and to remove contaminating drilling water. During the process the borehole water salinity increased, the water level was at 446 m depth and the influx rate was ~1 L/hour. Within 24 hours the borehole iced closed at 125 m depth capturing the down-hole probe. An attempt to drill out the ice failed. Vapor condensation either from the subpermafrost water or from atmospheric moisture or both caused the ice plug. Future work will be directed towards designing and installing a reliable system for sampling of subpermafrost brine once the plug is removed.

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