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2006

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Date:   November 17, 2006
Location:   Taylor Dome
Latitude:  77 degrees, 47 minutes South
Longitude:  158 degrees, 43 minutes East
Temperature:  −33°C (−27°F)
Wind Speed:   16 knots
Wind Chill:  −49°C (−57°F)
Elevation:  2,365 meters (7,759 feet)
Written by:   Lora

Sun Dogs

Another cold yet beautiful day at Taylor Dome.  The wind is blowing like mad and not expected to stop until the 23rd.  The wind lifts snow from the ground and blows it which drifts around the buildings.  The drifts are not easy to walk on and I keep tripping on them going between the Galley and the Blue Room. 

The sun was out and the diamond dust, air vapor that freezes creating the illusion of floating diamonds in the sky, created sun dogs and halos around the sun.  Sun dogs are an optical phenomenon like a rainbow.  The sun dogs are two bright spots located horizontally off to the side of the sun.  The halo is a circle that forms around the sun and goes through the sun dogs.  We also got the extra special opportunity to see a halo that went all the way around the sky.  It is very rare to see these spectacular optics.  

The work day was spent getting gear ready for the ice core drill camp to be set up and continuing to get the tractors and sleds set up for the traverse.  A satellite camp will be setup 12.2 km away from our main camp.  The drill camp is being setup away from camp, in a higher accumulation area.  The higher accumulation area gives a higher resolution ice core.

We ended the day by relaxing in the galley and watching a movie.   We watched Incino Man, a movie about an iceman who comes back to life after being incased in ice.  We were joking that by the end of the traverse we may all be incased in ice as well.

Date:   November 18th, 2006
Location:   Taylor Dome
Latitude:  77 degrees, 47 minutes South
Longitude:  158 degrees, 43 minutes East
Temperature:  −37°C (−35°F)
Wind Speed:   18 knots
Wind Chill:  −55°C (−68°F)
Elevation:  2,365 meters (7,759 feet)
Written by:   Lora

Establishing the Drill Camp

Early this morning Brian and Josh headed out to the Ice Core drill site.  They left early to be back in time for a flight we expected from McMurdo scheduled to arrive at 9:15 am.  We were expecting 3 flights today bringing in equipment and some additional personnel to help get some of the traverse gear up and running.  The visibility and wind, however, were not conducive for flights.   At 11:00 am we got the word that all the flights for the day were canceled until Monday. 

Rick and Paul are responsible for grooming the skiway when flights are expected. The skiway is a two-mile strip of snow that is groomed smooth for airplanes to land on, just like runways but made of snow.  The skiway is also marked with flags so the pilots can tell where they are on the skiway.  The airplanes landing on the snow are equipped with skis. 

In the afternoon the drill team went out to set up the drill camp.  Andrei, Brian, Joe, Josh, and Mike left in the Pistol Bully pulling a sled with the camp gear.  They set up a Scott tent for shelter and dug a snow pit.    A Scott tent looks like a pyramid.  They are often used in Antarctica because they are very strong and hold up well against the wind.  Now that the camp is ready with shelter we will start assembling the drill and working on  the ice core.

Since we did not receive the cargo and additional people we were expecting we were able to relax a bit this afternoon.  We set up some speakers, which plug into iPods, giving us music.  We also caught up on melting water and filling all of our jugs.  Cathy set up a portable Coleman camp oven and is baking brownies for dessert.  It seems really nice in the kitchen right now.