July 8+9, 2023

A good and productive weekend

The science trench becomes more and more empty.

Saturday, the wind picked up and drifts formed especially in the ramps to the trenches, the freezer and the concert hall. Work continued in the Science trench where the AWI science equipment was packed, the tables taken down and the ice core buffer disassembled. The Saturday dinner was prepared by Eliza, Meg and Aira starting with a pink drink based on rosé, followed by roasted leg of lamb with roasted potatoes and carrots and Yorkshire pudding followed by tarte Tatin with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Sunday had calmer wind so the snowblower was used to clean the ramps while the borehole was logged with the old DK logger by Dorthe and Nan. The results show no changes of inclination so no signs of shear. This is in itself exceptional – the whole ice stream is moving as a block. The temperature measurements confirm that we are very, very close to the pressure melting point at the bottom and that there is a cavity at the depth 2609 m and 2664 m where glycol has been used. The diameter in the cavities exceed the max the logger can measure (170 mm diameter). The temperatures in the glycol zones are lowered by the chemical processes.

What we did during the weekend:

1. Deployed the conical reamer again.
2. Repaired top-plug in drill.
3. Logged the borehole with the old DK logger.
4. Finished documentation of all ice core boxes (50 boxes to retro).
5. Finished stapling the black rubber to the Dome. Martin has used 13.500 staples.
6. Took down the ice core storage and table in the Science Trench.
7. Maintained the Generator.
8. Prepared pallet for retro cargo.
9. Packed AWI equipment in the Science trench.
10. Pulled all the German sledges to the surface.
11. Reorganized the pallets on drums.
12. Used the snowblower to open all ramps (trenches, freezer, concert hall).
13. Enjoyed Saturday evening.

Weather: It has mostly been overcast with few spells of broken sky and periods with snowfall. Saturday the wind picked up to 18 kt, gusting 24 kt changing from W to N. Sunday was more calm with winds between 1 kt and 8 kt from N to SW. Temperature have been warm between -10°C and -1°C.

FL, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen

Eliza (not in the picture), Meg and Aira prepared a wonderful Saturday night dinner for us.

The warm weather melts the snow and forms icicles on the sunny side of the ramp to the trenches.

The temperature and diameter near the bottom of the borehole.