Camp is picking up speed

Celebrating successful analysis of the first 100 m of ice in the CFA lab.

Today was our first regular working day since the major crew exchange Tuesday.

Drilling is picking up speed with more than 27 m of new ice core recovered. From tomorrow the drillers will form two teams and work 16h a day.

The ice core processing is also accelerating with more than 20 m ice processed today. In the CFA cabin the psychologically important first 100 m of ice has been measured and from now on the CFA analysis will go on around the clock.

During the coming weeks the drilling will penetrate the so-called brittle zone where high pressure air bubbles make the ice unstable when brought to surface. The brittle ice will not be processed until next year where it has relaxed and is better suited for cutting in a band saw. Our hope is that the drilling will be able to go relatively fast through the approximately 500 m long brittle zone, where the ice becomes stable again, and the ice core processing can continue.

What we have done today:

1. Drilling with the NEEM long drill. Drillers depth: 620.08 m. 600 m passed today.
   
2. Ice core processing. Depth: 380.60 m.
3. CFA analysis. Depth: 100.65 m.
   
4. Continued BAS radar measurements. 21 out of 33 waypoints measured.
5. A 4 m deep pit for chemistry analysis has been dug today by our South Korean participants. 

Ad.1: Drillers report:
"Another successful day in the drill trench achieving 27.3 m of core in 8 runs finishing at a depth of 620.08 meters. Training new staff continues to go well and we expect to start drilling two shifts tomorrow."

Weather: Sun shining from a clear blue sky all day; winds up to 10 kt from SSE; Temperatures day -10°C, night -20°C.

Field leader, Anders Svensson