North GReenland Icecore Project - Diary for week 29

Daily reports from the NGRIP-camp - week 29, 2004

Monday, July 12
Daily life
The German Dornier plane arrived at noon today, and later did a first survey towards Summit. Weather is nice, clear sky and back to -10 C.
Science
Yesterday we received the first pictures of the pink ice cores over the Iridium phone. This has been an interesting day. Drillers found a screw in the hole, that later was found missing in the drill. The core breaks are getting harder as drilling now is mostly glacier ice. New cutters have been mounted on both heads. The antitorque developed a short which was repaired, and the surface computer stalled twice. In order to date the ice by luminicence measurements the first core of the day,was retrieved and treated in darkness and the core stored in dark plastic. Yesterdays mystery was solved in a very natural way: The dissolved Coulter cups most likely melted due to a heavy use of the microwave oven for pop-corn. The microwave oven gets hot on top when used ... Drillers final depth: 3048.63 m. Total core today: 2.29 m
Logistics
The skiway was groomed again and snowdrifts were moved.

Tuesday, July 13
Daily life
It has been a busy day. The skier arrived in camp at 9.30 a.m. and left one hour later taking out 8 of the originally 11 people in camp. 19 new people came in three of which are media people who will leave again on thursday. Two visitors from Danish Television will be working in the camp for the next two weeks.
Science
Due to a busy flight day and to problems with a shortening in the antitorque section only 2 runs have been made today. During the first run with new cutters mounted the current was high. 4 attempts were used to break the core with a weight of 1500 kg - including the weight of the cable and drill. In the 2. run no penetration was observed. On surface it was seen to be cause by a 17 cm long bottom piece of core from the 1. run The bottom of this piece is polished due to attempts to drill. Drillers final depth: 3049.27 m. Total core today: 0.64 m The Polar 2 aircraft went on a radar mission in the area of a possible new deep drilling site "NEEM".
Logistics
The C-130 took off in the first attempts using ATO's. The skiway needed grooming after the take-off, before the German Dornier landed again in the afternoon. Pallets with drums and goods from Kangerlussuaq were unpacked, and most of the personal luggage of the newcomers needed drying since it had been raining in Kangerlussuaq when the cargo was waiting on the run-way.

Wednesday, July 14
Daily life
The camp is busy with a total of 26 people in camp. This includes the crew of the German Dornier, and three US media people who will stay until tomorrow, when a C-130 will bring a DV visitors group.
Science
We had 4 runs today. During the runs the pink refrozen ice disappeared from the core so we now have 100% Eemian ice. In the second and third runs several attempts, up to 7 tries, were needed to break the core and we pulled with a maximum of 1700 kg. Gammel Dansk for all after hard core breaks. The core quality is good and very much like last year. Plenty of drama for the media groups in camp. Tomorrow we will try to split into two drill shifts once again. The science trench has been prepared in order to process the new Eemian cores. Drillers final depth 3052.54, total core today: 3.16 m The German Dornier went on two radar missions eastward from NGRIP.
Logistics
The skiway and the apron was groomed, and a pallet was prepared in order to fly back with the C-130 tomorrow.

Thursday, July 15
Daily life
Today skier 92 visited the camp with US media guests. The visitors had two hours of ground time, and they got to see the drilling and the pink ice cores. It was a very nice visit.
Science
The drilling is now in two shifts, and it runs in a stable mode like last year. 6 runs gave a total of 4.71 m drilled core. The drill depth is 3058.19 m. The chips chamber is completely full when long cores are drilled. The Dornier plane carried out two flights today. Due to icing conditions northwest of NGRIP the planned route had to be changed somewhat. The BAS Dornier attempted to go to NGRIP on Wednesday, but due to a leak in their tank they had to return to Kangerlussuaq. Today they went to Illulisat, and they probably continue to NGRIP tomorrow.
Logistics
An empty drum pallet has been built, and is ready to be flown out of camp.

Friday, July 16
Daily life

Science
6 runs today with the core lengths 0.92m, 0.86m, 1.24m, 0.97m, 1.20m, 0.84m with a total daily production 6.03 m. The shaft with the superbanger was used for the runs 1,3,5. "Cognac-bombs" are used in every run now. The drilling has been in routine and the breaks have not been so scary today with a maximum of 1240 kg (including weight of cable and drill). The processing of the Eemian ice has started. Samples are being cut for isotopic analysis. Final drill depth: 3064.77 m, core production today: 6.03 m. Due to bad weather there have been no radar flights today.
Logistics
Another pallet with empty drums has been built.

Saturday, July 17
Daily life
First Saturday evening in camp with the new team. Moreover this is the one year anniversary of reaching bedrock.
Science
3 runs of 1.12m, 0.80m and 1.29m. The superbanger barrel with fill spirals still yields the most stable drilling. The second run today was with the non-superbanger barrel with readjusted cutters and shoes but was plagued by 70 cm of slush on top of the core in the inner core barrel. Chip chamber was 80-100% full on all runs today. Today is the one year anniversary for bedrock. Final drill depth: 3067.25 m, core production today: 3.22 m.
Logistics
The Dornier Polar 2 has made radar measurements from NGRIP to the East coast. The BAS Twin Otter arrived from Ilulissat in the afternoon and left a few hours later for Upernavik. They too have been carrying out measurements on the way.

Sunday, July 18
Daily life

Science
The drilling has proceeded with 5 runs today, and core lengths 0.41m, 0.78m, 1.01m,1.46m and 1.26m with a total daily production 4.92 m. This is very good for a sunday! Almost all runs had full chip chambers and a lot of slush on top. The BAS Twin Otter arrived from Upernavik in the afternoon, and the AWI Polar2 plane has been performing measurements northeast of NGRIP. There is a lot of exciting talk about radar measurements going on in camp these days. Total daily production 4.92m, drillers depth run 93, 3072.5m.
Logistics

Continue to Week 30