Daily reports from the NGRIP-camp - week 25, 2003
Monday, June 16th
|
| Daily life |
| -9 degrees and blue sky. |
| Science |
The thermal drille is causing the drillers troubles. 5 drill heads
has been burned off despite many testings at surface and during decent
in the hole.
The shallow core has been processed to 98 m. |
| Logistics |
|
Tuesday, June 17th
|
| Daily life |
| Lightly overcast, but with good visibility. -12 degrees. |
| Science |
After close examination of the blown melt heads, drillers concludes
that the heads most likely were blown due to overheating. The overheating
might be caused by the composition of the liquid at the bottom of the hole.
Despite testing and being as carefull as possible the 6th melt head was
blown today without any signs of overheating. The melt heads apparently
do not like the strange soup at the bottom of the hole.
A double pit 3 meters deep with a 0.5 meter snow wall between them
has been dug. This allows for sunlight to pass through. A meltlayer from
2002 can be seen. This melt layer has also been reported from Summit. |
| Logistics |
| Snow has been removed around utility dome. |
Wednesday, June 18th
|
| Daily life |
| Overcast with snow and -11 degrees. Relatively bad visibility, 2 miles. |
| Science |
Drilling continues with the drill from Hans Tausen. 1,30 meters recovered
in 4 runs. 2nd run was very succesful, which is believed to be because
of the Ethanol-Water-Solution EWS in the hole. Tomorrow drillers will try
to design a "cognac bomb" to release EWS in the hole at the time and location
needed.
Isotope sampling done in the 3m pit. |
| Logistics |
| The main generator ran into trouble last night. This morning the auxillary
power was used for 1,5 hours while the main generator was drained, cleaned
and had the fuel filters changed. The camp is now back to main generator. |
Thursday, June 19th
|
| Daily life |
| Snow showers and -11 degrees. |
| Science |
During the first run of the day it was discovered that something was
wrong with the cable. The run gave a 29 cm core.
Isotope sampling in the 3 m pit continues. |
| Logistics |
| It was decided to change the damaged drill cable. Everybody in camp
participated. The operationen started at 2 p.m., and at 7 p.m., the old
cable was removed and the new cable pushed down into the drill trench.
The new cable drum hold 4 km steel cable and weigh about 1-1.5 ton. |
Friday, June 20th
|
| Daily life |
| It has cleared up with blue sky, -7 C and good visibility. After the
snow showers yesterday, the snow is blown away from all entrances to the
drill trench, the dome, etc. |
| Science |
| The ice cores from the last few days are logged: the pieces are fitted
together, and measured accurately. The depth is 3006.99 m |
| Logistics |
| The new cable is winded on the winch, and the drill is ready again
in the evening. The total operation has lasted 1½ days. |
Saturday, June 21st
|
| Daily life |
Snow showers again! Dense cloud cover, -6 C, wind gusts at 8 m/s and
low visibility. It is "white out", i.e. no contrasts at the surface - not
a weather for outdoor work, and the snow starts to collect around the entrances
again.
Fortunately, it is Saturday, and there is time to prepare the highlight
of the week, the Saturday night dinner. The camp collect at 7 p.m. for
dinner dressed up to the nines and with clean hair! |
| Science |
| The drilling has continued again after the cable change. Three runs
are drilled. After 2. run, the drill cutters were dull, and had to be sharpened
before the drill could continue. Todays longest piece of core is 58 cm. |
| Logistics |
| The worst snow is removed around the entrances, but drifting continues... |
Sunday, June 22nd
|
| Daily life |
It is still "white out".
The camp and camp life has been photographed during the last few days.
A row of good pictures and beautiful panoramas has been taken. They will
be brought out with the next plane. |
| Science |
The drilling continues, today with three run. Right after 2. run, there
was a short occured in the top of the drill. Back at the surface, it was
clear that it was due to the black slush again. The black slush is maybe
left in the hole after the problems 2 weeks ago. The drill cutters become
dull all the time, and has to be checked after each run, maybe because
of the black slush. The longest core today is 79 cm.
The cores are fitted together and measured accurately after every 5th
to 10th run. The depth is now 3009.32 m, and 2.33 m of core has been drilled
since June 20. |
| Logistics |
| Several entrances has drifted in. The ramp to the drill trench is kept
open. It is still "white out", and the snow blowing has to be done with
caution. |
Continue to Week 26
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