The 'tractor train' transports people and equipment across harsh terrain and through all weather conditions. It is capable of travelling more than 1200 km inland, deploying scientists and support teams to some of the most remote and extreme parts of the Antarctic ice sheet for extended periods of time.
The traverse capability includes:
- tractors, towing heavy-duty sleds
- snow groomers
- accommodation vans
- scientific labs and tents
- fuel tanks
- intra-continental aviation operations to the traverse and mobile inland station.
The first major traverse expedition is to support the Million Year Ice Core project – drilling an ice core with a climate history dating back more than one million years. The traverse will deliver a mobile inland station to the remote drilling site not usually accessible by aircraft.