Far-reaching results could come from the exercise, which would follow on from the recently successful Cape Roberts project which drilled down to fossils dating from 34 million years ago, Antarctic New Zealand spokesman Jim Cowie said today.
Mr Cowie, who was the Cape Roberts manager, said a group of scientists from six countries wanted to return to McMurdo Sound and drill down to the age of the dinosaurs.
"It's a major target.
"On the Cape Roberts project we got down to 34 million years... a group of young scientists are very keen to get to the age of the dinosaurs, 60 million years."
Popular theory suggests dinosaurs roamed freely across land bridges 60 millions years ago before continents split away.
Fossils from a newly discovered land-roving dinosaur have already been unearthed on an Antarctic island near the tip of South America.
Five species of dinosaur have been discovered in Antarctica, but scientists want to drill down to 60 million years to find and study further evidence.
"New Zealand scientists and drillers are likely to be involved in these major proposals in McMurdo," Mr Cowie told NZPA.
The six-member committee developing the proposal includes Dr Tim Naish, of New Zealand's Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.
Mr Cowie: "We have developed new drilling technology on the ice. It's a risky business operating a 55 tonne drill rig on a metre-and-a-half of ice.
"There is a growing expertise of elite drillers in the New Zealand fraternity. The Russians have stopped drilling in a sub-polar icecap lake because they don't have the technology. It's something we could do.
"It's a possibility involving huge sums of money. New Zealand has the scientists and the logistical expertise."
Mr Cowie said the Cape Roberts project, which finished last month, was the biggest operational and scientific project undertaken in Antarctica and it received a 100 percent environmental tick-off.
Research on the 1700m Cape Roberts core has so far found that Nikau-like palm trees, flies, beech forests and beetles flourished in the Antarctic 33 million years ago.
Drilling through 22 million years, scientists discovered over a metre of pure pumice.
"It was indicative of a Krakatoa-like volcanic eruption which showed there were clearly other volcanic events, while during our drilling we had Mt Erebus steaming away 80km from us," Mr Cowie said.
"Scientists will work on the core for the next five to six years, making connections with other drill holes around the world."
The core from under the Ross Sea is the deepest core sample taken out of Antarctica and should answer questions about the earth's crust movements and climate history.
The core has been sliced vertically with half stored in Germany and the other half at Florida State University in the United States.
The operation involved 61 scientists, 11 support crew, and 11 drillers. Australia, Britain, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United States were involved.
Drilling Reveals Antarctica Once Home To Dinosaurs And Palm Trees
New Zealand scientists and ice drillers are hoping to return to the dinosaur age in an Antarctic drilling project. [Original headline: Scientists keen to drill to dinosaur age in Antarctic]
New Zealand Press Assoc. - March 12 2001
