NOTE: This journal was posted late due to a technical problem at Summit Station which took down the internet.
Today was our first day working away from Summit Station. In order to drill a pristine ice core sample, it's important to get a decent distance from the other activity up here on the ice sheet. Ian Baker, the leader of our team, worked with the National Science Foundation to choose a spot that is about 6 km (about 3.7 miles) from the station. Our path to get there is actually a little bit longer than that because we have to go around an area that remains undisturbed for another long term experiment
The research team is loaded up and ready to head out to begin setting up the remote drill site.
Since our team had a good deal of equipment to transport out to the site today, we took 3 snowmobiles, each of which towed a sled. With that many snowmobiles and sleds, we were able to bring about 60% of our equipment out at one time. This included tents, the drill and supporting equipment, survival gear, and much more!
Arriving at Camp for the First Time
The team will set up their drilling site in a spot removed from the station to ensure pristine ice samples.
When we reached the site, we quickly determined where we were going to put everything and then set to work. Aside from our science team, we have two professional drillers, Elizabeth Morton and Mike Jayred. They have worked extensively in the Arctic and Antarctic drilling ice core samples as well as doing other jobs. The science team and a science tech from Summit Station concentrated on setting up the camp itself, while the drillers worked on getting their drill ready to take samples.
The team is setting up an Arctic Oven tent at the drilling site. This will provide some shelter while at the site.
Professional drillers Mike Jayred and Elizabeth Morton are preparing the head of the drill in advance of drilling operations.
By lunchtime, we had about half of the camp set up. Each day at lunch, we return to the station to eat and warm up a bit, although it was quite nice today (about 8 degrees Fahrenheit). It also gives the team a chance to regroup, go over what has happened throughout the morning, and to go over the plan for the afternoon.
The camp is beginning to take shape as the tents and drill are being set up.
After lunch, we loaded up the rest of the equipment and travelled back out to the drilling site. We spent a good deal of the afternoon preparing for some deteriorating weather tomorrow. We are supposed to have a low pressure system coming in over night. That means that the winds are supposed to pick up considerably (meaning cold wind chills and reduced visibility) and we may get some fog and/or snow. As a result, we had to put up a tent that would cover the drill, allowing our work to continue.
The team works together to set up a large dome tent that will be used to protect the drill.
The ice core drills are placed inside a tent to protect from bad weather.
By the end of the day, we had the camp prepared and ready to hopefully start drilling tomorrow. We also placed everything inside tents or staked it down so it wouldn't blow away. All in all, it was a very productive day in the field!
By the end of the day, the drill site has been completed.
PolarTREC teacher Steve Kirsche is ready to drive back to Summit Station with the rest of the team.
New Feature
I am starting something new today that I will try to include in my future logs while at Summit Station. I am calling it Polar Profile. Each day, I plan to briefly introduce you to someone who works up here at Summit Station. I have been impressed by everyone I have met up here and thought it would be a good idea to "tell their stories."
Polar Profile
Name: Lance Warrick
Job Title: Mechanic
Lance Warrick works as a mechanic at Summit Station.
Home: Greenville, Ohio
Length of Time Working in Polar Regions: Lance has worked in both the Arctic and Antarctic since 2006.
Length of Current Assignment to Summit Station: Lance has been here since mid-May and will be leaving in late July (a total of about 10 weeks).
Job Description: Lance's job is mainly to fix the heavy equipment that is used around the station. This includes the snowmobiles and equipment used for moving snow and supplies around the camp.
Favorite Part of Working at Summit Station: Lance says that his favorite part of working at Summit Station is the people. He says that the people he works with are great!
Hardest Part of Working at Summit Station: Lance say that the hardest part of working at Summit Station is that fact that you can't go anywhere and that it occasionally makes you feel isolated, but it is still worth it!
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