It is Saturday and we have a full house for dinner
Saturday night cooks: Mirena, Erin and Marja in full swing.
Although it is Saturday, there is a lot of activity in camp and in the air space over the North Greenland ice sheet.
One of the experiments planned for this year is successfully completed, and both aircraft have been flying missions. We have been very lucky with all the beautiful weather and after tonight the Twin Otter is ready to leave NEEM after completing it’s program in the NEEM area.
For AWI Polar 6 there remains one mission before they can go back to Kangerlussuaq to dismantle the radar equipment. Later, the AWI Polar 6 will return to support other programs. The completion to the airborne programs is good, as forecasts are beginning to indicate a change in weather.
Tonight however, we will celebrate Saturday night with good food and good company. Mirena, Erin and Marja have volunteered to be cooks.
What we have done today:
1. Sending off and receiving two aircraft.
2. Danish wet drilling test successful.
3. German drill almost ready for test drilling.
4. Collecting all empty drums in camp and preparing them to be sent out.
5. Saturday night dinner: Mirena, Erin and Marja.
Ad.1: The PARCA Twin Otter made a successful visit to Tunu weather station
site. AWI Polar 6 made a successful radar mission along one of the
predetermined profiles and in the NEEM area.
Ad.2: Drillers report: After 98 runs a depth of 130.4 m was reached. 8
runs (117.5 m to 130.4 m) were done using a new test fluid. In the dry
mode, the cores drilled below 100 m began to show the normal fracturing
due to brittle ice. In the wet mode the cores became excellent again.
Setup and testing of the new Danish intermediate drilling system is
completed with success. The Copenhagen group now has a complete system for
drilling shallow cores to 120 m weighing total 250 kg, a intermediate
system to 1 km with a total weight of 475 kg, and a deep system to 3 km
weighing a total of 4 tons.
Immediate reactions to the test drilling fluid: A lot less slippery. At
-14°C need proper ventilation. Smell manageable and acceptable. Smell
reminds us of DEET based insect repellant. As tests in Copenhagen showed
almost no smell at – 35°C, we would say that: Fluid is acceptable for deep
drilling in Greenland and fluid recommendable for work in Antarctica.
Drillers find that the advantage of less stickiness outweighs the
disadvantage of smell.
More tests on the fluid will be performed in the coming days.
Weather: Thin clouds with haze in the morning, otherwise clear. Temp. -
16°C to - 21°C, 3-12 knots from NE and N. Visibility: 3 km, later to
horizon.
Ice core from the test drilling and drillers: Simon, Trevor and Carsten.
FL, J.P. Steffensen