A man-made, thick platform of ice for drilling in the high Arctic. Sea water is pumped onto the normal ocean ice, itself quite thick, where it freezes in the minus 30' to 40'C, temperatures. The platform is built up a few inches at a time with successive pumpings and freezing of the water until the ice is calculated to be thick enough to support drilling operations with a 1,000 to 1,500-ton drillrig and auxiliary equipment. Ice platform technology was pioneered by Panarctic Oil Ltd., a company with a great deal of experience in Arctic exploration.
