Date: December 29, 2006
Latitude: 79 degrees, 2 minutes, 5
seconds South
Longitude: 149 degrees, 41 minutes,
14 seconds East
Temperature: −27°C (−17°F)
Wind Speed: 24 knots
Wind Chill: −44°C (−47°F)
Elevation: 2,302 meters (7,552 feet)
Written by: Lora
Kilometers Traveled 290
Meters of core drilled: 390
Notes on Daily Life:
I walked outside this morning to a biting wind that continued to increase all day. Andrei announced that the wind chill was −44°C. Very cold. We all put on an extra layer for the day’s work. Andrei, Mike, Dan D. and Joe finished the 100 meter core. Brian and Gordon drove radar lines around the core site with the shallow radar. Dan B. spent the day with MADGE, measuring the density of the 25 meter 2–inch core. The wind was battering him all day. Paul and I drilled a 10–meter hole and 5–meter hole with the 2–inch drill. Gordon put strain meters in these holes to monitor ice sheet flow.
Paul taught me how to drill with the 2–inch drill today. The 2–inch drill is run with solar panels, batteries and a hand winch. The large solar panel charges the batteries and the batteries drive the drill head that spins cutters that dig into the snow and cut the core. The core pushes up into the core barrel. Drilling consists of lowering the winch until the barrel is on the snow surface. The drill head is turned on and the drill begins cutting while the winch lowers very slowly. When the barrel is full, the drill head is turned off and the barrel winched back up. The barrel is then tilted and pulled out. The core is pushed out of the barrel onto the processing table where is it weighed, measured and packed.
All the drilling was finished by lunchtime. The afternoon was spent packing the sleds so we can leave for our next site tomorrow morning.
Date: December 30, 2006
Latitude: 79 degrees, 2 minutes, 5
seconds South
Longitude: 149 degrees, 41 minutes,
14 seconds East
Temperature: −27°C (−17°F)
Wind Speed: 7 knots
Wind Chill: −37°C (−34°F)
Elevation: 2,300 meters (7,546 feet)
Written by: Dan D.
Kilometers Traveled 296
Meters of core drilled: 390
Upon waking this morning it was apparent (from the shaking of the Blue Room) that the weather had deteriorated further during the night. The winds had increased and visibility was steadily decreasing. Nevertheless, undeterred, we prepared the trains for travel and set off into the whiteness.
We traveled for only two kilometers before entering a large sastrugi field. The reduced visibility made the already difficult sastugi navigation even trickier. We stopped, and after some deliberation decided to reconfigure the second train to an in–line arrangement. This configuration makes sastrugi avoidance easier as the train is now 12 feet wide instead of 30 feet.
We continued to travel for another 4 km and were then called to a halt by Lora on the crevasse–detecting radar in the Pisten Bully. Her keen eyes had noticed an unusual trace pattern appearing on the radar screen. The trains halted while Brian, our most experienced radar operator now that Steve has left, inspected the radar record. Meanwhile, the weather and visibility was getting worse and it was decided that we would camp for the night at our present position and determine the source of the radar traces in the morning.
Cathy did a fine job of whipping up a quick and delicious dinner and then the kitchen cinema showed the movie “Malena”
Date: December 31, 2006
Latitude: 79 degrees, 2 minutes, 5
seconds South
Longitude: 149 degrees, 41 minutes,
14 seconds East
Temperature: −28°C (−18°F)
Wind Speed: 35 knots
Wind Chill: −48°C (−54°F)
Elevation: 2,300 meters (7,546 feet)
Written by: Lora
Kilometers Traveled 296
Meters of core drilled: 390
I woke up this morning to zero visibility and blowing snow. The wind had caused large drifts to build up around the trains overnight and these continued to grow throughout the day. We decided it was not safe to move the trains due to the lack of visibility.
In the morning Brain, Gordon and Paul took the Pisten Bully out a half kilometer ahead to check out the strange traces we were seeing in the crevasse radar. They dug a snow pit in the area where we saw the strange signal and they found that the cause was a firn crack. This is a small crack in the snow about 2 cm wide at the surface widening to about 10 cm at a meter or so depth. They present no danger to the trains but look like small crevasses on the radar screen.
Everyone spent the rest of the day inside the shelters watching movies and working on computers. Dan B. spent a chunk of the afternoon digging out some of the snow drifts. In the evening, patches of blue sky started to peek through, maybe tomorrow will bring better weather. Most of us stayed up until midnight to bring in the New Year. Happy New Year!