Blood, Sweat and gears
Source: Victoria University, ARC Annual Review 2025 - Science Drilling Office
2025 was another busy year for the Science Drilling Office. Engineers James MacPhail, Darcy Mandeno, and Alex Pyne supported the third SWAIS2C field season after the project relocated to Crary Ice Rise. While the previous two seasons highlighted the practical challenges of Antarctic operations, sustained effort led to a major milestone — recovery of a record subglacial sediment core.
SWAIS2C Drilling Season Three
2025 started with a season at Kamb Ice Stream that was cut short by significant challenges. The team was unable to recover the planned 200 m of sediment core from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf near the grounding line. This set up the remainder of 2025 as a critical period to ensure the viability of the upcoming season at Crary Ice Rise.
Upon return from Antarctica, James and Paddy Power (ESNZ) led an in-depth season review with industry partner Webster Drilling and Exploration (WD&E), supported by external reviewers from the United States and Germany. The review informed detailed planning to improve drill performance in difficult subglacial conditions through system refinement, careful selection of critical components, targeted upgrades, and a refined team structure.
Working closely with WD&E’s engineering team, James completed a reconfiguration of the Antarctic Intermediate Depth Drill (AIDD) system, with most work finished by June 2025. Validation and commissioning tests included a 10-day deployment to a Wairarapa farm, where the on-ice team (with logistics support from Webster Drilling) drilled a 200 m test hole. The test core will be used by Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences (SGEES) for investigation and teaching.
Engineering work continued through to September's southbound shipping deadline. Eleven tonnes of AIDD, Hot Water Drill (HWD), and support equipment were flown to Scott Base via the Antarctic New Zealand/USAP air bridge. Darcy reviewed operating procedures, with support from Paddy and external industry experts, for the core-drilling and hot-water drilling systems to bring the health and safety process up to date with engineering and process changes. James also revisited the spares inventory. Safety improvements trialled during the Wairarapa rebuild test were incorporated into on-ice planning and documentation.
The end of 2025 saw the team at Crary Ice Rise successfully drill a subglacial core, the culmination of many years of work by people across ARC, WD&E, ESNZ, and international partner organisations. The project wrapped up in mid-January 2026, setting a world record for subglacial sediment core recovery at 228 m from under 520 m of ice.
Tony Kingan (Webster Drilling, at left) and driller Jason Wilderink (at right) point to the 200m depth marked on the outer core barrel, while Sean McKeowen (centre back) drills on. Photo by Ana Tovey, ESNZ.
ASIS Drilling Season Planning
Alongside SWAIS2C work, 2025 marked the start of the Antarctic Sea-Ice Switch (ASIS) ice core drilling programme (see page 24). Work focused on getting a field-ready drilling system and test plan in place ahead of a Whitehall Glacier season in the next two years, with a target recovery of up to 300 m of ice core.
Darcy worked closely with ASIS Principal Investigator Nancy Bertler to procure a new shallow ice core drilling system. Early scoping considered re-tooling the intermediate-depth drill built by Darcy for the RICE project (Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution, 2011–2012), but this option was constrained by personnel availability and would have required investment for modifications comparable to purchasing an off-the-shelf system.
ASIS elected to purchase a shallow drill (Eclipse) manufactured by Icefield Instruments (Canada). The Eclipse design has direct lineage to the field-proven Danish Hans Tausen drill. Darcy also has prior experience with this drill type from work in Greenland, and it shares similarities with the RICE ice drill used in 2011–2012.
The system arrived in New Zealand and was shipped to Scott Base, ahead of planned commissioning and training in early 2026.
Collaboration and Engagement
Darcy and James also continued international connections throughout 2025 through technical meetings, workshops, and conferences, supporting knowledge exchange and keeping New Zealand closely linked to global best practice in polar drilling.
In March, Darcy travelled to Madison, Wisconsin (USA) for the biennial Technical Assistance Board meeting supporting the NSF (National Science Foundation, USA) Ice Drilling Program (IDP). He joined the Board following Alex Pyne’s retirement from the role. The meeting provided a valuable link to polar drilling experts and a forum to share New Zealand’s experience with other groups using similar drilling technologies in polar field settings.
Mid-year, Darcy and Rob McKay attended a workshop in Bologna, Italy, hosted by the Institute of Polar Sciences (IPS), to scope a project to recover a ~150 m core from Edisto Inlet, Ross Sea, Antarctica.
James and Darcy also attended the 9th International Drillers Conference in Potsdam, Germany, which brought together international experts working on drilling across Earth's cryosphere — and increasingly, on icy bodies elsewhere in the solar system.
Overall, 2025 combined hard-won field lessons with practical engineering progress. This was achieved in no small part with support from Webster Drilling and Exploration — the management, manufacturing, and field support we received reaffirmed the importance of maintaining close relationships with industry partners. This relationship helped SWAIS2C move beyond earlier post-season challenges, and ultimately positioned the team for a successful Crary Ice Rise field season, 2025–2026.
The Science Drilling Office of the Antarctic Research Centre comprises two full-time engineers — Darcy Mandeno and James MacPhail. Alex Pyne continues in his role as part-time Antarctic Drilling Advisor.
Contact Darcy: darcy.mandeno@vuw.ac.nz ARC Annual Review | 2025 — pages 20–21
