James standing next to the casing at the bottom of the inclined trench before it was shortened. To accomplish this, a lot of hard ice had to be cut away and lifted up in buckets from the narrow space.
July 2+3, 2022
James standing next to the casing at the bottom of the inclined trench before it was shortened. To accomplish this, a lot of hard ice had to be cut away and lifted up in buckets from the narrow space.
A large accomplishment was achieved in the drill trench Saturday as the casing in the inclined trench was lowered. Thereby, free passage for the drill and the drill tower is secured for this year and next year.
Sunday, trays for collecting drill liquid in the inclined trench were installed. Saturday, the German shallow drill was moved about 4 km downstream following the flowline. Although the ice sheet surface is almost flat, there are smaller undulations associated with the ice stream we are situated on. The previous shallow drilling site was thus in a ‘valley’ with no line of sight to EastGRIP camp, whereas the new site is on a ‘hill’ from where camp can be seen. Saturday night cooks were Valerie, James and Julien, who created a delicious menu of toast with blue cheese for starter, pan-fried steak with blue-cheese butter and mashed potatoes for main and a sticky toffee pudding for dessert. A great meal followed by a good party. Sunday Dorthe calibrated the ‘old’ logger and preparations for making the science trench functional began.
In the evening, ‘The Big Lebowski’ was on display in the local theater.
What we did Saturday and Sunday:
Weather over the weekend: Mostly overcast and snowfall both Saturday and Sunday. Temp. -11°C to -8°C. Wind: 8-16 kt from NW that is a somewhat unusual direction and a skiway crosswind.
FL, Anders Svensson
Saturday night cooks: James, Valerie and Julien.
Probably not the first time shown, but ice crystals formed in the trenches are impressive.