General concept of a deep hot water drilling system and drilling strategy to access Subglacial Lake Qilin, East Antarctica

Deep Antarctic subglacial lakes represent physically unexplored aquatic environments, the investigation of which may provide unique information about microbial evolution, past climate of the Earth, and formation of the Antarctic ice sheet. Subglacial Lake Qilin identified in the middle part of the Princess Elizabeth Land is recognized as one of the ideal lakes for upcoming exploration. Currently, R&D work to develop a deep hot water drilling system to access this lake has been started in China, and the paper presents a general concept of the system and the brief description of the drilling strategy. Access drilling to the lake is planned for the season 2026/27.

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