ABC - Dinosaurs on Ice

Deep inside the arctic, scientists are experimenting with extreme palaeontology methods to unlock the secrets of polar dinosaurs, and perhaps the key to our own survival on Earth. On Alaska's north slope there are dinosaur bones, lots of them. But they're trapped in an icy tomb - an impenetrable wall of permafrost.
Dinosaurs on Ice follows the journey of two scientists, Dr Tom Rich and Dr Tony Fiorillo, who undertake separate expeditions to the Colville River in Alaska's far north to uncover the dinosaurs' bones and break the ice on a prehistoric world that until now has been unreachable. But the task is not easy. The weather is extreme, the location remote.

Dr Tom Rich from the Museum of Victoria became a leading authority on polar dinosaurs after discovering them in Australia over two decades ago. He wants to build a mine into the Alaskan permafrost to uncover dinosaur bones. Dr Tony Fiorillo from Dallas has been working on the north slope for 10 years, using more traditional methods.

The idea for the dinosaur mine on Alaska's north slope was originally inspired by Dr Tom Rich's success using the same methods on the coast of Australia. For many years palaeontologists and volunteers painstakingly blasted and drilled into the base of a 90 metre high cliff in a remote part of the rugged coast of south eastern Australia - the only dinosaur mine in the world.