The University of Minnesota Duluth received an $8.97 million National Science Foundation grant to construct an ice-drilling platform in Antarctica for research, the university announced on Thursday.  

The drilling system — the first of its kind to be used in Antarctica — could give researchers critical new information about the interface between major ice caps and their subglacial geology, according to the news release.

The drilling system provides rapid access to deep levels in the Antarctic ice sheets, the university said. It can penetrate nearly 11,000 feet of ice and take sample cores in less than two hours.

The technology will allow researchers to make a long borehole into the Antarctic ice sheet and the bedrock, UMD geology professor John Goodge told WDIO-TV.

Construction for the drilling system will begin next June, according to WDIO-TV.