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 Norwegian-US Scientific Traverse team, who are en route from Troll Station to South Pole Station. Much more information can be found here.
Image caption: Glen is dressed up in a clean suit for ice core logging and packing. Photo: Jan-Gunnar Winther.