July 13, 2017

Getting more plumb

Many nations participate in EGRIP operations, hence the flag line in camp – illuminated by the midnight sun.

The drilling is continuing with the goal of reducing the bore hole inclination being front and center. Hence it was with great anticipation that the bore hole was logged today – did we manage to continue the good trend seen last weekend? Indeed, it turned out that the inclination is declining sharply, and we are now well below 4 degrees at 659 meters depth. This is a reduction of more than 1.5 degrees during the deepest 70-80 meters in the borehole. So excellent news.
Before the logging was carried out, some drill runs yielding varying core quality was carried out after the drillers worked late last night and early in the morning to successfully fix yesterday’s software issues. Logging proceeds in normal routine, albeit still with some challenges due to the mixed core quality. On the surface, grooming was continued in the earliest hours, but otherwise we start to tidy up camp for more windy conditions forecast for the weekend. The rover was tested for maximum range (24 km) and the surface science program continued as planned. In the science trench physical properties work proceeded as planned.

What we did today:

1. Grooming of skiway during early morning, moving drill liquid and getting surface organized.
2. Deep drilling core length at 19.00: 8.80 m.
3. Logging depth at 19.00: 659.47 m.
4. Logging bore hole.
5. Water vapour, methane, aerosols, snow and boundary layer measurements
6. Physical properties measurements.
7. Driving autonomous vehicle until running out of power at 24 km.
8. Water isotope sampling for sublimation studies.
9. Sealing entrance from science trench to core buffer and making extra seal around logging cabin.

Weather: Sunny day. Wind turned from WSW to SSW during the day, up to 5 m/s. Temperature between -20°C and -7°C.

FL, Bo Vinther