Written 5 Jan 2008 3705 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 29 to - 37 °C We left the Pole of Inaccessibility this afternoon. For the first time during the expedition we are heading straight south. When we get close to the Pole we will have to make a 150 km detour due to two specially managed areas, one being a clean air sector and another a silent zone. Further, we will descend about 1000 meters between the Pole of Inaccessibility and the South Pole. Thus, we expect higher temperatures and more oxygen the coming days and weeks. The solar elevation will also change less and less as we approach 90 degrees South, thus the light and temperatures conditions will become the same regardless of if it is day or night. ...

Written 4 Jan 2008 3730 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 28 to - 38 °C The work at the Pole of Inaccessibility has been running smoothly. The weather has been very favourable with almost no winds and reasonable temperatures. What remains now is to install thermistors in the 90 meter bore hole and to drill another 30 meter ice core. It turned out that the satellite transfer of data from the automatic weather station does not work properly. Fortunately, the weather station collects data locally. - Jan-Gunnar Photo: Expedition members enjoying a visit t...

Written 3 Jan 2008 3730 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 26 to - 38 °C Because of the rotation of Earth, the atmosphere is thinner near the poles than near the Equator and middle latitudes. This thinner atmosphere means high latitudes also have lower atmospheric pressure and significantly less oxygen than at the same elevation at lower latitudes. For example, we are now at 3700 meters above sea level, and this corresponds to more than 4400 meters (14,400 feet) in other areas of the world. Today we calculated the amount of oxygen we have to be about 53 % of that at sea level. It is like breathing with one lung, and feels that way too! We breathe like walruses after short walks, and gasp desperately for air when we are doi...

Written 2 Jan 2008 3730 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: -29 to -38 °C Now, meteorological data from the Pole of Inaccessibility is sent via the Argos satellite system and will be available on the internet soon. This is the second Automatic Weather Station that we have installed for the University of Utrecht at this traverse. Also, drilling of the third 90 meter core is well underway. The drilling team passed 40 meters depth last night. We have been communicating with at Chilean traverse team, currently at the South Pole and heading towards the Pole of Inaccessibil...

Written 1 Jan 2008 3730 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: -31 to -39 °C In the morning we reached the Pole of Inaccessibility, a milestone of our traverse. We are at the last long science stop, at the highest point of the route and have passed two third of the total distance. It is the least accessible point on the continent. But for us it also represents an important milestone being the third long science stop en route. We arrived at noon after a long night of driving and we have thus mostly been resting up today. Our camp is situated 4 km from the ...

Written 31 Dec 2007 3730 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 30 to - 38 °C The kilometers we logged today, the last day of 2007, brought us near to the Pole of Inaccessibility, which is the place on the Antarctic continent that is farthest from any coast. As 2007 came to a close, we reminisced about our journey, which started a month and a half ago from the Norwegian Troll Station near the coast of Dronning Maud Land. On this traverse so far we have drilled three deep ice cores and many shallow ice cores, in search of clues to our changing climate. We have worked toge...

Written 29 Dec 2007 3689 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 32 to -38 °C Originally, seven countries made claims in Antarctica. These were Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and United Kingdom. One region of Antarctica has not been claimed by any nation. Argentina, Chile and United Kingdom have overlapping claims at the Antarctic Peninsula. Norway’s claim has an undefined border both in the south and in the north, spanning from 20 W to 45 E. Norway claimed Dronning Maud Land in January 1939 to protect its whaling interests. We left Dronning Maud Land today and will be in the Australian sector on the remaining time of the expedition. ...

Written 30 Dec 2007 3710 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 29 to -37 °C The ice in Antarctica holds two thirds of all freshwater in the World, including lakes, rivers, groundwater, glacier ice and moisture in the atmosphere. While the average ice thickness is around 2000 meters, the deepest ice has been measured to 4776 meters. Still, large parts of Antarctica are not well mapped with respect to ice thickness. This figure is important for estimating Antarctica’s role with respect to global sea level. Thus, on the traverse we use low-frequency radar to measure ice thickness alon...

Written 28 Dec 2007 3672 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 26 to -35 °C We have selected site 33 as a science stop for a chance to have a closer look at some unusual scenery. That there is immense variety in the details on this uniform, white plain does not mean that we do not appreciate the unusual. On this location the satellite images show a series of large-scale ripples in the snow, and we have been curious about their origin. High in expectations we stopped here last evening. Sure enough, some kilometers out west we could see a long shadow under the horizon. A slope! Two of us went out to have a closer look and take some radar profiles, and found the ripples to be several elongated rises, up to 5 kilometers long, runn...

Written 27 Dec 2007 3672 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 25 to -37 °C One of the more common questions we get is if we don't get tired of looking at the same unchanging scenery day after day, the same endless and level whiteness? No, we don't. One reason is that studying subtle differences in the snow surface is one of our reasons for being here in the first place. But there is more to the snow than just crystal size, permeability and density. The surface is carved and shaped by relentless and ever changing winds, and takes on an immense variet...