30 September 2019 to 3 October 2019
The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
Europe/Copenhagen timezone

RECAS autonomous thermal sonde for subglacial lakes exploration

2 Oct 2019, 10:40
20m
The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters

The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters

The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters H.C. Andersens Boulevard 35 DK-1553 Copenhagen V Denmark
Oral Session 5

Speaker

Prof. Youhong Sun (1 Jilin University; 2 China University of Geosciences)

Description

To date, more than 400 relatively small subglacial reservoirs and several large lakes were discovered in Antarctica. Certainly subglacial lakes exist in Greenland. In recent years, different approaches were taken to access and directly sample subglacial water environments. RECoverable Autonomous Sonde (RECAS) allows to access subglacial lake when water remains isolated from the modern ice sheet surface during sampling. The thermal drill can melt a hole to ice sheet bottom and is able to move upwards. It includes two electrically powered thermal drill bits located at the upper and lower ends of the sonde, heated body, control system, sampling chamber and coiling system. All downhole RECAS components will be sterilized prior to deployment. The melted water is not recovered from the hole and it refreezes behind the sonde. The power and signal line is released from the coil inside the sonde. When sampling and monitoring are complete, the coil motor is activated and the top drill bit is powered. It is proposed that the research personnel leave the site after RECAS deployment and the sonde operates as a fully autonomous system. The power is provided by no-live-operator diesel engine generators. The first laboratory tests of the sonde subsystems were carried out during 2018 and prototype tests are scheduled on the summer of 2019. Field tests are planned in season 2019-2020, in the vicinity of the Chinese Antarctic research Zhongshan Station.

Primary author

Prof. Youhong Sun (1 Jilin University; 2 China University of Geosciences)

Co-authors

Prof. Pavel Talalay (Jilin University) Prof. Yuansheng Li (Polar Research Institute of China) Prof. Guoping Li (Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology, National Astronomical Observatories, CAS) Prof. Jingbiao Liu (Hangzhou Dianzi University) Dr Qifeng Cui (Aerospace System Engineering, Shanghai) Dr Sheng Wu (National Ocean Technology Center, Tianjin) Prof. Alexey Markov (Polar Research Center, Jilin University, Changchun, China) Prof. Jixin Wang (Jilin University) Prof. Jianhua Wang (Jilin University) Prof. Rusheng Wang (Jilin University) Mr Chunlei An (Polar Research Institute of China) Mr Dongliang Wang (Aerospace System Engineering, Shanghai) Dr Xiaopeng Fan (Jilin University) Dr Nan Zhang (Jilin University) Mr Zhigang Wang (Jilin University) Dr Haibin Yu (Hangzhou Dianzi University) Dr Peng Shilin (Hangzhou Dianzi University) Dr Jianguang Shi (Hangzhou Dianzi University) Dr Yang Yang (Jilin University) Dr Bing Li (Jilin University) Mrs Ting Wang (Jilin University) Mr Yongwen Liu (Jilin University) Mrs Qun Ge (Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology, National Astronomical Observatories, CAS) Dr Jing Xu (Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology, National Astronomical Observatories, CAS) Dr Xiaokang Ni (Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology, National Astronomical Observatories, CAS) Mr Yanji Chen (Jilin University) Mr Yunchen Liu (Jilin University) Mrs Yuan Wang (Aerospace System Engineering, Shanghai) Mr Qiang Jiang (Aerospace System Engineering, Shanghai) Mr Xiao Li (Jilin University) Mr Michail Sysoev (Jilin University) Mr Yazhou Li (Jilin University) Ms Gaoli Zhao (Jilin University)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.