Paul Anker
Drilling Engineer/Marine Tech
Biography
My role within the Polar Oceans group encompasses both hot water drilling activities and oceanographic mooring operations.
Hot water drilling is used by Polar Oceans as an access tool to the oceans beneath ice shelves but they are also used to access subglacial environments. I am involved in designing, developing, maintaining and operating these drilling systems in both Antarctic and Arctic settings. I have extensive experience of Antarctic fieldwork and the diverse technical requirements of operating in extreme environments.
As a marine technician I am responsible for the recovery and deployment of oceanographic moorings in the Southern Ocean and have significant experience working at sea and operating numerous oceanographic instruments. I have also piloted the BAS autonomous glider fleet and helped develop the early implementation of these vehicles into the pool of oceanographic tools employed by Polar Oceans.
Publications from NERC Open Research Archive
2023
Schmidt, B. E., Washam, P., Davis, P.E.D. ORCID record for P.E.D. Davis, Nicholls, K.W. ORCID record for K.W. Nicholls, Holland, D.M., Lawrence, J.D., Riverman, K.L., Smith, J.A. ORCID record for J.A. Smith, Spears, A., Dichek, D.J.G., Mullen, A. D., Clyne, E., Yeager, B., Anker, P. ORCID record for P. Anker, Meister, M.R., Hurwitz, B.C., Quartini, E.S., Bryson, F. E., Basinski-Ferris, A., Thomas, C., Wake, J., Vaughan, D.G. ORCID record for D.G. Vaughan, Anandakrishnan, S., Rignot, E., Paden, J., Makinson, K. ORCID record for K. Makinson. (2023) Heterogeneous melting near the Thwaites Glacier grounding line. Nature, 614. 471-478. 10.1038/s41586-022-05691-0
Davis, Peter E.D. ORCID record for Peter E.D. Davis, Nicholls, Keith W. ORCID record for Keith W. Nicholls, Holland, David M., Schmidt, Britney E., Washam, Peter, Riverman, Kiya L., Arthern, Robert J. ORCID record for Robert J. Arthern, Vaňková, Irena ORCID record for Irena Vaňková, Eayrs, Clare, Smith, James A. ORCID record for James A. Smith, Anker, Paul G.D. ORCID record for Paul G.D. Anker, Mullen, Andrew D., Dichek, Daniel, Lawrence, Justin D., Meister, Matthew M., Clyne, Elisabeth, Basinski-Ferris, Aurora, Rignot, Eric, Queste, Bastien Y., Boehme, Lars, Heywood, Karen J., Anadakrishnan, Sridhar, Makinson, Keith ORCID record for Keith Makinson. (2023) Suppressed basal melting in the eastern Thwaites Glacier grounding zone. Nature, 614. 21 pp. 10.1038/s41586-022-05586-0
2021
Smith, A.M. ORCID record for A.M. Smith, Anker, P.G.D. ORCID record for P.G.D. Anker, Nicholls, K.W. ORCID record for K.W. Nicholls, Makinson, K. ORCID record for K. Makinson, Murray, T., Rios-Costas, S., Brisbourne, A.M. ORCID record for A.M. Brisbourne, Hodgson, D.A. ORCID record for D.A. Hodgson, Schlegel, R., Anandkrishnan, S.. (2021) Ice stream subglacial access for ice sheet history and fast ice flow: The BEAMISH Project on Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica and initial results on basal conditions. Annals of Glaciology, 62. 203 -211. 10.1017/aog.2020.82
Makinson, Keith ORCID record for Keith Makinson, Anker, Paul G.D. ORCID record for Paul G.D. Anker, Garcés, Jonathan, Goodger, David J., Polfrey, Scott, Rix, Julius ORCID record for Julius Rix, Silva, Alejandro, Smith, Andrew M. ORCID record for Andrew M. Smith, Uribe, José A., Zamora, Rodrigo. (2021) Development of a clean hot water drill to access Subglacial Lake CECs, West Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 62. 250-262. 10.1017/aog.2020.88
McAfee, Carson W.I. ORCID record for Carson W.I. McAfee, Rix, Julius ORCID record for Julius Rix, Quirk, Sean J. ORCID record for Sean J. Quirk, Anker, Paul G.D. ORCID record for Paul G.D. Anker, Brisbourne, Alex M. ORCID record for Alex M. Brisbourne, Makinson, Keith ORCID record for Keith Makinson. (2021) Non-contact measurement system for hot water drilled ice boreholes. Annals of Glaciology, 62. 223-232. 10.1017/aog.2020.85
Anker, Paul G.D. ORCID record for Paul G.D. Anker, Makinson, Keith ORCID record for Keith Makinson, Nicholls, Keith W. ORCID record for Keith W. Nicholls, Smith, Andrew M. ORCID record for Andrew M. Smith. (2021) The BEAMISH hot water drill system and its use on the Rutford Ice Stream, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 62. 233-249. 10.1017/aog.2020.86
Makinson, Keith ORCID record for Keith Makinson, Ashurst, Daniel, Anker, Paul G.D. ORCID record for Paul G.D. Anker, Smith, James A. ORCID record for James A. Smith, Hodgson, Dominic ORCID record for Dominic Hodgson, Davis, Peter E.D. ORCID record for Peter E.D. Davis, Smith, Andrew M. ORCID record for Andrew M. Smith. (2021) A new percussion hammer mechanism for a borehole deployable subglacial sediment corer. Annals of Glaciology, 62. 385 -389. 10.1017/aog.2020.83
Smith, J.A. ORCID record for J.A. Smith, Hillenbrand, C.-D. ORCID record for C.-D. Hillenbrand, Subt, C., Rosenheim, B.E., Frederichs, T., Ehrmann, W., Andersen, T.J., Wacker, L., Makinson, K. ORCID record for K. Makinson, Anker, P. ORCID record for P. Anker, Venables, E.J., Nicholls, K.W. ORCID record for K.W. Nicholls. (2021) History of Larsen C Ice Shelf reconstructed from sub-ice shelf and offshore sediments. Geology, 49. 5 pp. 10.1130/G48503.1
Meister, M., Dichek, D., Spears, A., Hurwitz, B., Bryson, F., Mullen, A., Lawrence, J., Washam, P., Quartini, E., Lopez, S., Kassabian, L., Anker, P. ORCID record for P. Anker, Mandeno, D., Schmidt, B.. (2021) Antarctic Deep Field Deployments and Design of the Icefin ROV. Global Oceans 2020: Singapore – U.S. Gulf Coast. 5 pp. 10.1109/IEEECONF38699.2020.9389361
Griffiths, Huw J. ORCID record for Huw J. Griffiths, Anker, Paul ORCID record for Paul Anker, Linse, Katrin ORCID record for Katrin Linse, Maxwell, Jamie, Post, Alexandra L., Stevens, Craig, Tulaczyk, Slawek, Smith, James A. ORCID record for James A. Smith. (2021) Breaking all the rules: The first recorded hard substrate sessile benthic community far beneath an Antarctic ice shelf. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8. 76 pp. 10.3389/fmars.2021.642040
2018
Rosier, Sebastian H.R. ORCID record for Sebastian H.R. Rosier, Hofstede, C., Brisbourne, Alex M. ORCID record for Alex M. Brisbourne, Hattermann, T., Nicholls, Keith W. ORCID record for Keith W. Nicholls, Davis, Peter E.D. ORCID record for Peter E.D. Davis, Anker, Paul G.D. ORCID record for Paul G.D. Anker, Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter ORCID record for Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Smith, Andy M. ORCID record for Andy M. Smith, Corr, Hugh F.J.. (2018) A new bathymetry for the southeastern Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf: implications for modern oceanographic processes and glacial history. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 123. 4610-4623. 10.1029/2018JC013982
2014
Makinson, Keith ORCID record for Keith Makinson, Anker, Paul G.D. ORCID record for Paul G.D. Anker. (2014) The BAS ice shelf hot water drill: design, methods and tools. Annals of Glaciology, 55. 44-52. 10.3189/2014AoG68A030
Venables, Emily, Nicholls, Keith ORCID record for Keith Nicholls, Wolk, Fabian, Makinson, Keith ORCID record for Keith Makinson, Anker, Paul ORCID record for Paul Anker. (2014) Measuring turbulent dissipation rates beneath an Antarctic ice shelf. Marine Technology Society Journal, 48. 18-24. doi:10.4031/MTSJ.48.5.8
2021
Scientists reconstruct past history of largest ice shelf on Antarctic Peninsula
News 19 May, 2021
Discovery of life beneath Antarctica’s ice shelves
News 15 February, 2021
BAS Staff awarded the Polar Medal
News 4 February, 2021
2016
Hot Water Drilling
Facility