May 14, 2019

Preparing two surface campaigns

The outermost markers in the line leading into the skiway (some 6 km from camp) touch the edge of the ice stream. The markers here move slower than the rest so, in one year, a straight line becomes curved. Lines are added to show where the markers should be.

It remains cold, clear and windy, and extra heating in some dwellings has been necessary, as wind combined with cold is a poor cocktail for staying warm. If the clear weather holds, a team will fly to the former NEEM site tomorrow. Two persons will stay at NEEM for two days to measure the deep borehole there. In the meantime, the AWI team is making ready to fly to different locations to drill shallow ice cores. In the snow caves, more snow blocks are being removed and soon the caves will be ready for the summer. The dining area is now full of people chatting along in English, German and Danish, with some French, Swiss German and Icelandic thrown in for good measure. Sarah cooked us a nice dinner (again!) with rice, scallops, shrimp and fresh salad. Mood in camp is good, but we could wish for just a short break from the wind.

What we did today:

1. Making logging winch ready for bore hole logging at NEEM.
2. Preparing AWI drilling operation.
3. Working on communications between surface console and deep drill electronics.
4. DK shallow drill ready for operation.
5. Resetting SW lead in markers. Due to differential ice flow, the outermost markers were several meter off line.
6. Setting up test site for AWI ice core CT scans.
7. Removing snow drifts from entrances of drill trench and cooks freezer.
8. Trimming of the ceilings in the snow caves.
9. Work on setting up the isotope CFA laboratory.

Weather today: Sky clear. Temp. - 14 °C to -30 °C. Wind: 12 kt to 16 kt from SW. Visibility: Unrestricted.

FL, J.P. Steffensen