July 1, 2022

Making access to the casing

The EastGRIP rader setup out of camp: the blue radar sledge behind the red operator cabin behind the black Skidoo.


In the drill trench the top of the borehole casing has now been cut free from surrounding ice, allowing to shorten the top of the casing and make free passage for the drill and the drill tower. Yet another consequence of the Corona delay of the project, as the entire drill trench setup has expired the expected lifetime. The German team successfully returned with the last ice core sections from the shear margin shallow drilling that has a final depth of 102 m. With the improved off-road wheels, the rover was for the first time set free in open terrain. It was not quite clear to the observer, however, who was in charge of the test drive: the operators or the Rover. The radar team went out on yet another courageous 12h 100 km round trip to the SW. In contrast to yesterday, however, the weather improved during the trip and ended up sunny and calm. In the evening some took advantage of the beautiful weather to explore the surroundings on skies or on foot. A clear sky in all nuances of blue with infinite visibility and just a few clouds hiding in the horizon. A good opportunity to kill the last hiding Corona bugs in the high UV factor.

What we did today:

  1. Cut out the top of the casing in the inclined trench preparing to shorten it.
  2. Drilled with German shallow drill in shear zone SE of camp. Final depth: 102 m.
  3. The Greenland radar team went on a 100 km roundtrip to the SW.
  4. Performed drone flights when weather permitted.
  5. Finished assembling the Mills radar T-frame.
  6. Tested rover in the wilderness for the first time.
  7. Started calibration of borehole logger equipment.

Weather today: Overcast in the morning with some snowfall and very moist conditions considering the location. Improved conditions during the day and full sunshine in the evening. Temp. -15°C to -8°C. Wind: 0-12 kt from varying E direction util there was no more wind.

FL, Anders Svensson

The view inside the radar operator cabin. David is operator.

The rear view from the cabin: the sledge radar that is pulled behind the cabin.

The remote-controlled Exploration Rover ready to be tested in the wilderness for the first time. Henrik on skies is ready to catch up with the rover and hit the STOP bottom in case it turns too autonomous.