We are making great progress with our second ice core! As of last night, our depth was at 261 meters. This borehole is expected to reach a depth of somewhere around 300 meters based on radar data from the ice sheet, but we're not 100% sure. Here are the guesses from everyone in camp:
I'm hoping the smaller numbers are closest…
We are making a big push to finish this core by Christmas, so 5 days ago we split into two shifts, one in the morning and one in the evening, so that the drill is basically running from 9 am until midnight. We do have a break for dinner, the only time during the day that everyone at camp is together.
I volunteered for the night shift because why not? It never gets dark and I enjoy sleeping until noon. It has been a good experience. Plus, around 1:30 am you get to see the closest thing we have to a sunset during December at 77°S!
“Sunset” over the ice. The sun did not get any lower than this.
We are deep in the grind right now, but hopefully we hit bedrock soon! That will allow us to focus on a few other projects during our last couple of weeks here.
Another “sunset” picture just because