2 June 2009 Science Trench

                                          <figure class="standalone-image" style="display:block;"><img src="/files/members/cheri-hamilton/images/sciencetrench-.jpg" alt="An Icy Room for Science" title="All core tests at NEEM will be done here" /><figcaption class="caption" style="display:block">All core tests at NEEM will be done here</figcaption>

How did they build an underground science lab like this? Many hours of snow blowing and chain sawing made the entrance, drill chamber and science trench. The ceiling of the structure is mainly plywood, but the ceiling in the hall that connects the drilling and science rooms is snow. They needed to test the snow to see if it was dense enough to support a ceiling and here is the hole they drilled almost to the surface.

The snow reflects blue at the top of this test hole

The metal room in the back is a science lab.

These scienists are analyzing the cores for isotopes and gases

This is the coldest library in Greenland! If you look closely, you can see the ice cores in the slots.

This is the "waiting room" for ice cores to be analyzed

One third of the ice core will be packed in boxes and stored at NEEM. It will be cut in 7 separate pieces for analyzing isotopes, gases, volcanic particles, dust and physical properties, among other things. The scientists called loggers and processors will begin doing this soon. So much history to be told!