We tunneled nine meters into the glacier and then made a four by three meter room at the end of the tunnel and now we are ready to start sampling. Initially we thought that we would have to tunnel downwards at the end of tunnel to reach a sediment layer about a half meter under the tunnel, but we got lucky and found a sediment layer at the end of our tunnel. It is a perfect sediment layer because it is stratified and alternates between clean and dirty ice. This will work really well for both the microbiology and gas experiments. Even better is that it is a lot easier to take samples from a wall in front of you than cutting and digging samples out of a hole. We hope to take samples for about the next week or so and even start sending some samples back to McMurdo to be analyzed in a couple of days.
Looking down the finished tunnel. It is about nine meters deep and by the time we are finished sampling it should be about ten meters deep.
The mound of ice and snow to the left of the tunnel opening is all of the debris that we have taken out of the glacier as we tunneled through it.
This is what we have been looking for. The thick sediment layer in the wall of the tunnel is where we will be taking our samples from.
To sample the ice we cut specific sized blocks of ice out of the sediment layer, label them, and then package them up. It may sound easy, but it needs to be very precise. We have to be careful to cut the correct sized blocks and not break them when removing them from the wall. We also have to make sure that all the blocks are correctly labeled and their position is recorded in a lab notebook. We wouldn't want to mess up someone's research because of a small error.
Brent is measuring and remeasuring the block before cutting it to make sure it is the right size.
After making sure that he cuts it in the correct position, Brent cuts the ice block in the middle to get the A and the B side. One half will go to the Montana State team and the other half will go to the Louisiana State team.
Each block is cut down the middle and the front side is labeled A and the back side is labeled B. The arrows help us to remember which way the block was facing in the wall.
Amanda is using the sealer to package the ice that she will be taking back to McMurdo to perform experiments on.
We need to store the ice blocks in a cold environment until they are ready to be shipped off, so Tim and Shawn are cutting a room off the side of the tunnel to store the ice inside the glacier.