Date: November 22, 2006
Location: Taylor Dome
Latitude: 77 degrees, 47 minutes South
Longitude: 158 degrees, 43 minutes East
Temperature: −30°C (−22°F)
Wind Speed: 7 knots
Wind Chill: −41°C (−41°F)
Elevation: 2,365 meters (7,759 feet)
Written by: Lora
Today was beautiful, sunny and only a light wind. When the sun is out at Taylor Dome you can see the Trans Antarctic Mountains in the distance.
I took advantage of the good weather to do my science. My experiment requires that I dig a snow pit and take measurements of the snow thermal conductivity, snow grain shape and size, snow density and radar measurements of extinction in the snow. Joe and I dug a pit in the morning, at noon we tired to start the generator and it would not start. It was too cold. We had many difficulties today with the equipment not working in the cold temperatures, to give you an idea, the snow temperatures at the top of the pit was −35°C and the bottom −42°C. The first problem was the generator, then my computer and sometimes my fingers. We were close to camp so when things got too cold we went in and warmed up. By the end of the day we did manage to get all the measurements.
While Joe and I were in the snow pit, everyone back at camp was very busy. With the good weather, we got 4 Twin Otter flights. The flights brought in supplies and people to help get the trains ready to go. Solar John came in to work on the solar panels and batteries, which we will give us power while we are moving. Greg, a carpenter, came in to build things and fix some of the buildings. Joe, who works on utilities, came to get all the propane heaters up and running. Charlie, in communications, came to put radios in all the buildings.
The arrival of airplanes is quite an ordeal. In the mornings Rick or Paul go out and check the runway. They also put all the retro, returning cargo, out near the landing strip on pallets. As the plane arrives someone has to be in radio contact with the pilot giving weather reports and wind speeds. The plane lands and is unloaded. Then the plane is loaded with the retro cargo. Today we retroed old batteries, garbage and other gear we will not need on the traverse.
All the new people came in and started working immediately. Cathy was kept busy in the kitchen with all the new mouths to feed. Also our water consumption went from 25 to 40 gallons a day. This means more time melting water.
In the late afternoon Mike, Andrei and Josh took the ice core drill out to the drill site. It will be ready in the morning to start setting up for drilling.
Date: November 23, 2006
Location: Taylor Dome
Latitude: 77 degrees, 47 minutes South
Longitude: 158 degrees, 43 minutes East
Temperature: −28°C (−18°F)
Wind Speed: 11 knots
Wind Chill: −41°C (−41°F)
Elevation: 2,365 meters (7,759 feet)
Written by: Lora
Happy Thanksgiving
Today is Thanksgiving in the US. Most people at home have the day off, but after the snow days, we are taking advantage of the good weather. Joe, Josh, Andrei, Mike and I left in the morning for the drill site. We spent the day getting the drill and camp set up for processing the core. Mike and Andrei worked on the core while Joe and I built wind breaks to keep us warm and out of the wind while we work. By the end of the day we had the drill up and running and had drilled 19 meters of core to clean the drill. Tomorrow we will start drilling the actual core that will go back to our labs.
In camp more construction was going on. The solar panels are all working and charging batteries. I am using one of the batteries right now to run my computer. Radios were mounted in all the buildings and propane heat was hooked up. The camp was also completely dug out from the snow that had blown in during the storm. This required a lot of digging. Pallets of more retro cargo were loaded. We are expecting a flight tomorrow that will take the retro cargo, Joe, John, and Charlie back to McMurdo.