Abstract
Aquatic environments under the Antarctic ice sheet have drawn attention since the discovery of subglacial hydrological systems consisted of lakes and water channels. The ice sheet base is an important boundary, where basal sliding, geothermal heating, erosion and deposition processes take place. Further, basal melting and subshelf ocean circulation are the keys to understand recent mass loss of the ice sheet. Despite its importance, however, in-situ observation of the subglacial environment is difficult because of the ice cover with a thickness ranging from several hundred meters to several kilometers. Hot-water drilling and borehole measurement techniques are the solutions for the direct observation. In this contribution, we review hot-water drilling and subglacial measurements previously performed in Antarctica. We also introduce our project at Langhovde Glacier as an example of hot-water drilling on an Antarctic outlet glacier, and discuss the future of subglacial exploration of the ice sheet.
