Written December 12 3591 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: -24 °C to -37 °C The core would just not keep together! A number of drill holes were given up before we eventually managed to retrieve the two short ice cores that were planned for this location. The reason for this was most likely that we had stopped in an area with extreme low accumulation with large ice crystals that were very poorly bonded. None of us had experienced such conditions before. To avoid similar situations later on our traverse, we have now studied the Radarsat satellite mosaic for Anta...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In a mission of unprecedented scale, scientists are about to cover West Antarctica with a network of sensors to monitor the interactions between the ice and the earth below -- 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The National Science Foundation (NSF) just awarded the collaboration, called POLENET, $4.5 million to plant global positioning system (GPS) trackers and seismic sensors on the bedrock that cradles the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Lead institution Ohio State University will receive more than $2.2 million, and the rest will be divided among partners in the United States as part of an International Polar Year project. As scientists have tried to understand how climate change is af...

3591 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: -24 °C to -38 °C We were prepared for temperatures down to -50 degrees C before we left out on the expedition. The minimum temperature that we have recorded so far reached down to -46 degrees C. The lowest wind chill temperature was -64 degrees C. The three first weeks, nighttime temperatures dropped steadily below -40 degrees C. The last week, however, both daytime and nighttime temperatures have increased by about 5 degrees. We think we see the first signs of the summer… This change in temperature is making the conditions much easier for personn...

Written 11 December, 2007 We are at our Science Site 1, at approximately 2400 m elevation along Latitude 75. Just when we reached it, a strong snow blizzard came in from west resulting in both wind-blown precipitation and snowdrift. Due to the weather almost all outdoor activities have been postponed, giving us an opportunity to rest, compile data and do maintenance on vehicles and equipment. The one-day storm has formed 2-metre high snowpiles on the leeside of vehicles and living modules, so instead of being totally flat, the camp is now difficult to cross. Tomorrow we will take off towards the Kohnen station. It is a 300 km drive, and will take some days. The scientific work which we cannot do now will be postponed to the return trip in mid January. This is...

3591 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: -22 °C to -30 °C Environmental regulations and standards in Antarctica follow the Protocol of Environmental Protection under the Antarctic Treaty. All activities are evaluated in accordance to these standards. Our project has reported the wide variety of activities that we carry out in an initial environmental evaluation. The evaluation was approved by the Norwegian Ministry of Environment prior to departure. The most severe impact from our project is burning of fuel due to the long distances we travel. In total, we will consume about 5...

Wow, what an incredible place this is – it goes way beyond my greatest expectations! I have been here a full week now, which has just flown by! We (26 of us) arrived by plane, having flown first to Cape Town, then down to Novolazarevskaya (a Russian base) where we camped overnight. We were met with such warm hospitality by the Russians and I was thrilled to see lots of IPY logos on the tents, the calendar, the planes – the list goes on and on!! What a great introduction to the Antarctic! Arriving at Halley Research Station was so exciting – we had a wonderful welcoming committee waiting for us and once we had unloaded all of our kit we were quickly shepherded off to our respective sleeping quarters to have a couple of hours of rest and relaxation and a cup of tea!...

On a day as today, when winds are blowing the snow around, large snow drifts may form over night. If we parked our vehicles randomly, we may get large drifts that need to be removed in the morning. Or perhaps snow drifts would made us become stuck when starting out for driving the next morning. Also, the order of how the vehicles are parked has been carefully considered. In the front, our main generator delivering power to the whole camp is placed. Both the living/kitchen module and the sleeping module, which are next to each other for practical reasons, receive power from the main generator. We keep the upwind area clean and this area is designated for science. ...

On a day as today, when winds are blowing the snow around, large snow drifts may form over night. If we parked our vehicles randomly, we may get large drifts that need to be removed in the morning. Or perhaps snow drifts would made us become stuck when starting out for driving the next morning. Also, the order of how the vehicles are parked has been carefully considered. In the front, our main generator delivering power to the whole camp is placed. Both the living/kitchen module and the sleeping module, which are next to each other for practical reasons, receive power from the main generator. We keep the upwind area clean and this area is designated for science. ...

Written 8 December, 2007 3604 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 29 °C to - 36 °C Yesterday’s breezy conditions evolved overnight into strong winds with a lot of blowing snow, making today’s conditions the worst for visibility that we have experienced since our departure from Troll. Our goal for today is to travel all day and make good progress toward our next drilling site. Fortunately, with GPS navigation and no known obstacles between here and the drill site, we have been able to push ahead in spite of the poor conditions. The wind makes a striking difference on the ice sheet. Thursday morning it was -30 C, with clear skies, almost no wind, and walking and working on the ice sheet was pleasant. Bare cheeks were fin...

Written December 7, 2007 3589 meters above sea level Minimum temperature: -45 °C When drilling ice cores, one important task is to establish a precise dating of the core, i.e. know the age of the ice at certain depths. There are several methods for dating an ice core including using fallouts from the nuclear test bomb explosions as horizons of known age. We are drilling down to 7.5 meters to capture the well known radioactive reference layers from 1955 and 1965. These are later identified in the laboratory by measuring the Total ß-radioactivity. This contribution is from the log of the Norw...