Scientists ready to drill on Thwaites Glacier as fierce winds delay work

On Tuesday, a week after scientists from Britain and South Korea pitched tents on Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, the 10-member team said they were ready to begin a multiday drilling operation into the half-mile-deep ice, the culmination of an eight-week voyage of the icebreaker Araon that, if successful, would allow instruments to be lowered through the glacier into the ocean below to study bottom-up melting.

Fierce winds had been whipping around the campsite and officials warned they could freeze up drill equipment, bury it in snowdrifts and make it difficult for researchers to work outside; the installation was expected to take more than 60 hours. Calmer conditions were forecast for Wednesday, when the scientists hoped to start.

“We’ve come this far,” said Peter Davis of the British Antarctic Survey, adding that it would be annoying to fail at the last hurdle for the sake of a day. The team of 10 was largely in good spirits after a week on the glacier, though members’ clothing was grimier, facial hair bushier and some showed light snow tans.

They had been shoveling constantly to clear tents and equipment and to gather water to feed the hot-water drilling system. At 23, engineer Seunghwan Oh, the team’s youngest member, joked with an uneasy laugh, “Save me from this hell.” The expedition runs a strict routine, the scientists said, working from 8 a.m.

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