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The RADIX (Rapid Access Drilling and Ice eXtraction) optical dust logger is part of the exploratory drilling system developed at the University of Bern. It was previously untested because no RADIX borehole reached to the depth of the required bubble-free ice. In June 2023, we tested the logger with an adapter for the large EastGRIP (East Greenland Ice-core Project) deep borehole. An excellent dust record was obtained for the Bølling-Allerød-Younger Dryas-Early Holocene period. The light scattered by the dust in the ice around the borehole was slightly higher than the detection range of the logger, requiring a reduction in the sensitivity for future deployments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We here describe, document, and make available a wide range of data sets used for annual-layer identification in ice cores from DYE-3, GRIP, NGRIP, NEEM, and EGRIP. The data stem from detailed measurements performed both on the main deep cores and shallow cores over more than 40 years using many different setups developed by research groups in several countries and comprise both discrete measurements from cut ice samples and continuous-flow analysis data. The data series were used for counting annual layers 60 000 years back in time during the construction of the Greenland Ice-Core Chronology 2005 (GICC05) and/or the revised GICC21, which currently only reaches 3800 years back. Now that the underlying data are made available (listed in Table 1) we also release the individual annual-layer positions of the GICC05 timescale which are based on these data sets. We hope that the release of the data sets will stimulate further studies of the past climate taking advantage of these highly resolved data series covering a large part of the interior of the Greenland ice sheet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RADIX (Rapid Access Drilling and Ice eXtraction) is a prospecting drilling system that has been designed, realized and tested on polar ice sheets. The goal of RADIX is to provide rapid, deep access for sampling of ice and downhole physical measurements that inform about ice sheet age and history and the integrity of layering. A 20 mm access hole is drilled with a hydraulic coiled tubing system where the tube consists of a plastic hose. The ice cuttings are flushed to the surface in normal circulation, i.e., between the hose and borehole wall, and can be sampled for analysis. After drilling, a dedicated logger with a 15 mm diameter is deployed into the hole for measuring the geometric orientation of the hole, the temperature profile and the dust content in the surrounding ice (optical dust logger). The equipment has been tested and improved during six field projects in Greenland and Antarctica. It is designed to ultimately drill through a 3000 m ice sheet within roughly 1 week. The greatest depth reached so far was 324 m during the last field project at Little Dome C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rapid access drilling system has been designed, realized and tested on polar ice sheets. A 20-mm access hole is drilled with a hydraulic coiled tubing system where the tube consists of a plastic hose. The ice cuttings are flushed to the surface in forward circulation, i.e. between hose and borehole wall, and can be sampled for analysis. A dedicated logger with 15 mm diameter is deployed into the hole for measuring the geometric orientation of the hole, the temperature profile and the dust content in the surrounding ice (optical dust logger). The equipment has been tested and improved during 6 field projects in Greenland and Antarctica. It is designed to ultimately drill quickly through a 3000 m ice sheet. Routine performance has been established to a depth of 300 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]