Status of scientific drilling in the Nordic Countries - spring 2009

Scientific drilling involves a diversity of scientific disciplines, e.g. geological sciences, geophysics, hydrology, microbiology, chemistry and engineering sciences and technology. Scientific problems in these subjects are of interdisciplinary nature and constitute the motivation for a scientific drilling project and a platform to build long-term internationally-recognised research. But also the methodology to obtain the desired subsurface information has to be further developed and adjusted to the needs of the scientific project, involving technological research that is conducted whenever the scientific goals of a drilling project allows, often in close cooperation with industry.
The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) is an organisation that supports high-quality drilling proposals from member countries, like Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Projects submitted by Finland, Norway and Iceland have already obtained ICDP support, new projects led by scientists who participate in this network have been proposed to ICDP. However, for ICDP planning and operational support an already established project and a basic working group with international connections are necessary. This is a challenge for researchers without contacts to colleagues who have experience from drilling projects and who are willing to help. Here a researchers network will help with the experience from past and present scientific drilling projects in the Nordic countries. Presently, the ICDP Iceland Deep Drilling Project aims to capture supercritical high-temperature fluids at 4500 m. The Norwegian ICDP Far-Deep project sampled recently shallow drillcores from several locations in the ancient crystalline bedrock of the Kola Peninsula and Karelia, Russia, with small, highly mobile drill rigs to study Palaeoproterozoic Earth and Life evolution. The next international Norwegian scientific drilling project, Mjølnir Scientific Drilling project, which aims to drill the Mjølnir impact crater on the Barents Shelf, is already advanced in planning and supported by ICDP and IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program) this year. Recently, the ICDP supported Outokumpu drilling project in Finland achieved a large diameter scientific drillhole to c. 2500 m and geological, geophysical and microbiological research has been performed. This hole is in an open condition and available for future research and research training. Danish and Norwegian scientists use data from shallow scientific and deep, abandoned commercial drillholes to study, amongst others, sedimentary basin evolution, hydrogeology, and palaeoclimate variations. In Sweden, the Deep Geothermal scientific well was drilled in the sedimentary bedrock near Lund to a depth of 3700 m, and 20 years earlier the Gravberg and Stenberg drillholes in Middle Sweden, each to more than 6500 m total depth. In 2007, the Swedish Deep Drilling Program (SDDP) was initiated to support drilling projects in Sweden. Swedish scientists are also involved in (geothermal) projects in Germany and the USA and CO2 sequestration studies near Berlin. Presently, SDDP investigates the feasibility of drilling deep holes with heavy mobile, truck-mounted equipment for its drilling project proposals.
A first attempt to bring Nordic drilling competence together has been made at the 28th Nordic Geological Winter Meeting (NGWM) in Aalborg, 2008. The next NGWM in Oslo, 2010, will host a large interdisciplinary session on Scientific Drilling in the Nordic Countries and we are confident to attract many researchers with an interest in scientific drilling.