Australia’s Antarctic tractor-traverse team is slowly making its way up the Antarctic plateau to deliver scientific equipment, fuel and food to the site of the Million Year Ice Core (MYIC) drilling project.

The 10-person team left Casey station on 1 November and expect to take 15–18 days to travel the 1168 kilometres to the drilling site, at Dome C North.

Traverse Leader, Damien Beloin, said the team has six tractors and 20 sleds to haul 493 tonnes of gear (see ‘What’s on traverse?’ section below).

Two snow groomers at the front of the convoys grade a path through the rough terrain, guided by GPS navigation systems.

“The Traverse route goes from sea level at Casey, passes Law Dome, goes through the Elcheikh Saddle, and gradually climbs up to an altitude of 3233 metres above sea level, at the top of the Dome C plateau,” Mr Beloin said.

“Different surfaces and snow conditions along the way will bring their own challenges.”

Once they arrive at Dome C North, the traverse team will continue the work they began last year to establish an inland station to support the MYIC project for the next five years. This will include commissioning a kitchen building, amenities van and generator van.

Equipment that was positioned at Dome C North last year, including sleeping vans, a mess area and the drill tent, will be de-winterised, in preparation for the science team’s arrival in late November.

Shortly after the traverse team arrive, MYIC project Science Lead, Dr Joel Pedro, and his scientific and drilling engineering team, will fly to the drill site. They’ll work with the traverse team to set up the next phase of the drilling project.

Magic million

The MYIC project aims to obtain an ice core climate record spanning at least 1.4 million years, covering a period in Earth’s history when there was a fundamental change in the timing of ice age cycles.

“About one million years ago the cycle of ice ages shifted from a regular 41,000 year glacial-interglacial cycle, to a cycle every 100,000 years,” Dr Pedro said.

“A leading theory is that declining atmospheric CO2 levels led to this change. A climate record of over one million years will provide the essential CO2 record to test this theory, and provide information to test models and better predict climate in the future.”

Last season the team successfully drilled to 150 metres (4000 years of climate history) using a shallow drill, and then progressively widened the borehole.

This season the team will fit a fiberglass bore casing into this widened bore hole, to prevent it closing under pressure once deeper drilling begins.

“This season a lot of our work will involve setting up our big, cable-suspended, electro-mechanical drill, which can reach over 3000 metres-deep and tolerate the −55˚C temperature in the ice,” Dr Pedro said.

“The Australian Antarctic Division has spent nearly six years developing this new drilling system, in collaboration with other international research groups, and this will be the first time we’ve assembled the drill system in the field.

“It will be a big moment for the project to recover the first cores with this drill.

“All going well, we hope to reach around 400 metres depth this season.

“After that, the target is to drill 1000 metres per year, which will put us on track to reach bedrock by 2029.”

Read more about the MYIC project in last season’s Drilling Diary and our special feature Secrets of the Ice.

Photo gallery

See all
An aerial photo of six tractors towing sleds across a vast white plateau
A map showing the 1168 km route from Casey on the Antarctic coast, to Dome C North, inland.
A single tractor with an Australian flag flying from its roof, towing a convoy of sleds.
A man holds the barrel of a hand-held ice core drill at an angle to let a core of snow fall out the end. Three other people look on. One is holding part of the snow/ice core that has broken off.
A field camp on a white ice plateau, with a large, semi-circular tent to the left and green and red shipping containers to the right
A man removes an ice core from a drill barrel while another man taps the drill barrel with a small rubber hammer.

Who’s who

Traverse team roles:

  • Traverse Leader
  • Deputy Traverse Leader
  • Doctor
  • Electrician
  • Carpenter
  • Diesel mechanics (×5)

Science/engineering team roles:

  • Science Lead
  • Drill electronics engineer
  • Drill engineer
  • Ice core processing,
  • Geophysics deployments
  • Mechanical technicians/drillers
A group of 12 people standing in front of a large, red shipping container van on a sled, preparing to depart on a three-week traverse.
Members of the traverse team preparing to depart Casey. Photo: K. See Kee

What’s on traverse?

Traverse gross weight – 643 tonnes (including tractors)

Traverse load – 493 tonnes across 20 sleds

The traverse load includes:

  • Traverse sustainment train
    • generator van
    • workshop
    • fridges and freezer
    • amenities van
    • sleeper van
  • 140 tonnes of fuel (174,600 litres)
  • 16 tonnes of aviation drummed fuel (to support 8 Basler flights)
  • MYIC container with deep drill components
  • Inland station vans for: generator, amenities, kitchen and medical facility
  • Cat skid steer
  • 4 tonnes of food (2100 food days)
  • Base sleds, drag beams, recovery skis
A distant aerial view of the tractor traverse snaking its way across a flat, white landscape
The long haul for science is on its way. Photo: Thom Whyte

Related pages

A colourful tractor in a snow covered landscape.
Australia’s modern inland traverse
Two men removing an ice core from a drill barrel
Million year ice core
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