tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51364759087102277922024-03-28T00:53:49.858+01:00IceCon: Constraining Ice Mass Change in AntarcticaIceCon is a project funded by the Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) and aims at constraining past and current mass changes of the Antarctic ice sheet in the coastal area of Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica.
It comprises 6 partners of several Belgian and foreign institutions, i.e. Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), University of Luxembourg (UL), Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI), and Aberystwyth University (AU).IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-46096262758465635362016-02-06T21:11:00.001+01:002016-02-06T21:11:47.565+01:00Back at Base and out again<p> </p><p>After three weeks on the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf Area we returned to the Princess Elisabeth Station with an about <a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors="true">9 h</a> Skidoo Trip. Our time on the ice shelf has been very productive. We collected around 200 km of radar profiles, measured several stake arrays with phase-sensitive radars, collected our GPS station at Derwael Ice Rise, resupplied the tweeting ice-shelf with new batteries and left two radars in overwintering mode (i.e. measuring every hour). We had a lot of fruitful scientific overlap with the BENEMELT Team and we hope to present the first solid scientific findings soon. Maybe we are a bit over-excited at this instance, but the datat looks very good indeed!<br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iAqsKikXsO8/VrZTaatPC1I/AAAAAAAAAS0/sjSA7isA-xc/s2048/Photo%25252020160206211050060.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iAqsKikXsO8/VrZTaatPC1I/AAAAAAAAAS0/sjSA7isA-xc/s500/Photo%25252020160206211050060.jpg" id="blogsy-1454789493289.4272" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div> <p> </p> <p>Mostly good weather, and very good field support from Sanne, Guenther, Frank and Erik (all part of the Belgian Military) made a successfull trip. After one recovery day at the base (with showers, hooray!), we will be heading out again towards the Antarctic Plateau to have a look how the GPS on Yet Nunten is doing. Slowly but surely our departure from Antarctica appears on our horizon, currently we are supposed to leave next week thursday.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com138tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-45269012904811021272016-01-24T22:14:00.001+01:002016-01-24T22:14:28.980+01:00Radar, radar<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; text-align: justify; font-family: -webkit-standard;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">After a Monday </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">of </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">storm</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, we spend </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">a </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">full </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">day </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">of</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> digging</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">out the</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> camp and the</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> ROB1 </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">cGPS</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> station</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> on Derwael ice rise. The </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">receiver and batteries box</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> w</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">ere</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">buried</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> about</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> ~2.5-3m of snow due to accumulation and subsidence</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> during the past year</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">. The station </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">is now removed after more than 3 years of full data without interruption</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">.</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> After this huge </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">shuffle-party we reoccupied</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">pRES</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> profile already measured during the 2014-2015 BELARE by Frank and Brice</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">.</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"></span></p> </span> <p style="margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; text-align: justify; font-family: -webkit-standard;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br></span></p> <p> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; text-align: justify; font-family: -webkit-standard;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Then IceCon team went back to RBIS2 </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">where</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> the Bene</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">me</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">l</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">t team (Stef and </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Mark) together with Erik and Gunther</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> were working for </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">more than one week</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">. </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Since then the sun is shining and sun screen seems to be more important than gloves. During our absence </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Bene</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">me</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">l</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">t visited lakes around the camp</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, there is quite a lot of water around here.</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">IceCon</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> has since started its geophysical measurements with shallow and deep sounding radars. Benemelt and IceCon mutually inspire each other and every morning profiles are adapted according to the latest results. Days are long and our </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">hard disks</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> gradually fill up with the recovered data. Our field guides </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Sanne and Frank </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">are preparing another move to a far-out satellite camp, we will keep you posted. </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"></span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">All goes well here.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SBrMfjk9kuQ/VqU-e8Kq98I/AAAAAAAAASk/lX0RG9ylyp4/s1280/Photo%25252020160124221308336.jpg" target="_blank" style=" "><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SBrMfjk9kuQ/VqU-e8Kq98I/AAAAAAAAASk/lX0RG9ylyp4/s500/Photo%25252020160124221308336.jpg" id="blogsy-1453670037882.6865" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="333"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture by Sanne Bosteels</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; text-align: justify; font-family: -webkit-standard;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br></span></p><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-61878948289046739772016-01-18T18:54:00.001+01:002016-01-18T18:54:28.811+01:00Storm on Derwael ice rise<p> </p><p>This is an update directly from the field. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>The IceCon and Benemelt teams arrived on Thursday at an already prepared basecamp near the grounding line of the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf. The skidoo travel was about 10 hours, including a visit to check on the Asuka cGPS station (everything is running here). With the sun brightly shining the day after, we managed to install a phase-sensitive radar which measures ice thickness changes (and hence basal melt rates) continuously every hour. Once a day a control message is sent to our office in Brussels. This instrument is part of a larger network on ice shelves around Antarctica, many of which are maintained by the British Antarctic Survey (who gave us great support in managing the instrument, even with messages relayed from the Filchner Ronne Ice Shelf). Our guides Sanne and Frank prepared in the meantime our traverse to the front of the ice shelf. We left the next day, and found all three instruments (two times GPS referred to as the TweetingIceShelf, and another phase-sensitve radar) which were left in overwintering mode by the previous IceCon Expedtion. After a resupply with fresh batteries the GPSs started tweeting instantaneously, and 15 GB of data from the pRES are waiting to be processed. Knowing that the weather was turning worse Sanne and Frank went ahead to Derwael Ice Rise to install the dome tent (a Stronghold) in case of bad weather... but the storm was already there so it took them 4 hours to install the dome and the sleeping tents in extremely harsh conditions. Reinhard and Nico arrived a few hours later (after finishing up some pRES measurements) and were happy to see the Camp fully functioning. However, the Skidoos almost drove into the tents because of the complete whiteout. Today the storm continuous making it impossible to work. We sit here quietly awaiting the end of the storm which gives us the opportunity to write this somewhat lengthy blog update and send it out via satellite communication. Weather prediction tells us that winds should be less strong by <a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="3" x-apple-data-detectors="true">Wednesday evening</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Lm7dJASc3Vg/Vp0msrTwLVI/AAAAAAAAASU/Z5YOLb_mcVE/s1020/Photo%25252020160118185348015.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Lm7dJASc3Vg/Vp0msrTwLVI/AAAAAAAAASU/Z5YOLb_mcVE/s500/Photo%25252020160118185348015.jpg" id="blogsy-1453139640371.2322" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-85124945190054975562016-01-17T21:00:00.001+01:002016-01-17T21:00:43.470+01:00Tweeting ice shelf reactivation<p>It took 10 hours skidoo driving across the path laid out by the Prinoth during the night, to arrive at the camp site on the ice shelf, near the grounding line. The camp is called RBIS1 and is at the site of the meteo station from the BENEMELT project (<a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" href="http://benemelt.blogspot.com/" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://benemelt.blogspot.com</a>). The first activity was to put the new ApRES (phase-sensitive radar) in place in one of the channels on the ice shelf. Data are collected regularly and transmitted automatically via Iridium. The next day was devoted to retrieving the GPS stations on the ice shelf (the so-called tweeting ice shelf -<a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2" href="http://tweetiniceshelf.blogspot.com/" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://tweetiniceshelf.blogspot.com</a>). Both systems stopped working due to battery failure, but they ran for one year, which was their design period. Unfortunately, since the expedition was delayed with one month and a half, we have to cope with the data gap. Both systems were successfully retrieved, dug out and repositioned. The antennas were still 1.5 meter above the snow surface. The relatively low accumulation is probably due to the wind action in this area of the channels. However, the flags that indicated their position were tilted or down on the snow surface. Luckily that the precise coordinates of the sites were known (thank you tweeting ice shelf!). Both systems are again transmitting data live. The old ApRES radar was also dug out. It took about 2 hours with 4 people to clear the job, but 1.5 gigabytes of data were recovered from the system. It is now used to remeasure all other points that were measured last year. All activities need to go swift, because a storm is expected on Monday. The purpose is now to move to Derwael ice rise as soon as possible and to retrieve the data from the geodetic GPS systems. All ApRES measurements across the ice divide also need to be done. So far, so good.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Pg0FKMc0mmA/VpvyvdEVQqI/AAAAAAAAASE/w-kUkk5DsJo/s2048/Photo%25252020160117205924768.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Pg0FKMc0mmA/VpvyvdEVQqI/AAAAAAAAASE/w-kUkk5DsJo/s500/Photo%25252020160117205924768.jpg" id="blogsy-1453060802756.986" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-23392740337580577052016-01-13T23:57:00.001+01:002016-01-13T23:57:49.685+01:00Ready for Departure<p>Tomorrow morning we are going to saddle the horses and drive to our first (out of four) research sites near the grounding-line of the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf. The last two days were dedicated for preparing every little details: the oil for skidoos, the GPS coordinates of turning points, the battery connecters, the ropes, the food, the latest satellite images, the fuel, and so on and so on. All the preperations were done with excellent support from staff at the station, and we feel very well preparted to go. For the next three weeks we will be without solid internet connection for blogging, but some updates will be given via the Iridium telephone. We set out the geophysical survey lines for a maximum possible coverage over the three/four weeks time frame (see image below). If we manage to cover even half of all the lines we will already be quite happy. The weather looks good, the sun is shining (as it always does), and we will hop into a final shower this evening.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SFb5yLEi6zY/VpbWGAMeVrI/AAAAAAAAARs/URqw_rPvlfc/s2048/Photo%25252020160113235549734.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SFb5yLEi6zY/VpbWGAMeVrI/AAAAAAAAARs/URqw_rPvlfc/s500/Photo%25252020160113235549734.jpg" id="blogsy-1452725832774.6716" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="354"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VEzky1Nda_o/VpbWL7Jvl9I/AAAAAAAAAR0/Gl7oZkLgm7g/s2048/Photo%25252020160113235549732.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VEzky1Nda_o/VpbWL7Jvl9I/AAAAAAAAAR0/Gl7oZkLgm7g/s500/Photo%25252020160113235549732.jpg" id="blogsy-1452725832779.6404" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-72990119932373670242016-01-11T22:14:00.001+01:002016-01-11T22:14:56.164+01:0010 months of Data from the Yet Nunten GPS station<span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">Today Sanne led a Team around Nicolas Bergeot towards the Net Nunten </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">mountain, which is situated between the Princess Elisabeth Station and </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">the cold Antarctic Plateau. This station was difficult to maintain in </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">the past because of the extremally harsh conditions (strong winds + </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">low temperatures) and we were pleased to find that the station was </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">operational until October 2015 before it entered into the same </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">stand-by mode as we already observed at Asuka station. With two down, </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">there is still one GPS to go, which is situated at the coast on top of </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">Derwael Ice Rise. This station will be dismanteld, and we plan an </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">organ-transplant so that Yet Nunten makes it through another year.</span><br style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;"></span><br style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">The support of the station is great and today testing of our lower </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">frequency radar was successfull. Our envisaged date of departure from </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;">the station to the coast is Wednesday.</span><div><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px;"><br></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5IQsLa3wlSE/VpQbNEiNxGI/AAAAAAAAARc/JytKiAzZZgY/s2048/Photo%25252020160111221354786.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5IQsLa3wlSE/VpQbNEiNxGI/AAAAAAAAARc/JytKiAzZZgY/s500/Photo%25252020160111221354786.jpg" id="blogsy-1452546882003.1301" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-19035965833182342452016-01-10T23:06:00.001+01:002016-01-10T23:06:30.808+01:00Visit at Asuka Station<p>Today, Nicolas Bergeot and Olivier Francis were accompanied by a crew of PEA lead by the field guide Guenther to visit a continuous GPS station, which was initially setup by IceCon in 2012 at Asuka (an old Japanese station). This time the station measured continuously until the end of January 2015 when the GPS receiver went into an unexpected standby mode in spite of full batteries and operational solar panels.</p><p>Nico will have to investigate as to why this has been the case so that we can modify the system for the coming year. Other than that our phase sensitive radar has been setup and we are currently testing the overwintering mode and the corresponding Iridium data transmission.</p><p>Tomorrow, Nico and Sanne, the chief of the field guides, are going to head out to Yet Nunten (close to the Antarctic plateau) and see how the continuous GPS is doing over there. Once all material has been successfully tested at PEA, we will be preparing the traverse to the coast which will hopefully commence in a few days from now.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tQgsL7cHay4/VpLVw7DHzkI/AAAAAAAAARM/bR0yBbZ_170/s2048/Photo%25252020160110230524097.jpg" target="_blank" style=" "><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tQgsL7cHay4/VpLVw7DHzkI/AAAAAAAAARM/bR0yBbZ_170/s500/Photo%25252020160110230524097.jpg" id="blogsy-1452463573732.0374" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="282"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture taken by Erik Vroonem</td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-49295242750189707132016-01-09T23:30:00.001+01:002016-01-09T23:30:49.775+01:00Windy Skidooing<p>In the morning we had various meetings clarifying the last details about the planned field work on Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf. The IceCon team will part together with Benemelt in a larger team of 8 skidoos. It was hence a timely endeavour to (re-) acquaint ourselves with the insights of skidoo-mechanics and handling. Our field guides Sanne and Guenther led us for a nice ride around the blue ice fields around the windscoop of Utsteinen. Parallel we started unpacking and testing our scientific equipment and we were happy to find most of the things which our colleagues (Frank Pattyn and Brice van Liefferinge) of ULB have left behind last year.<br></p><p>The first containers from the boat unloading have arrived, containing among others a nice tasting beer from a Belgium beer company which is known to fund excellent scientifc research in Antarctica (see Benemelt blog for details). Tomorrow Nicolas Bergeot will leave to maintain the permanent GPS station near Asuka, which is our first scientific target of this season.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7PUZk0BdCMY/VpGJ0virU4I/AAAAAAAAAQ8/xr6me9IkpwU/s2048/Photo%25252020160109232918596.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7PUZk0BdCMY/VpGJ0virU4I/AAAAAAAAAQ8/xr6me9IkpwU/s500/Photo%25252020160109232918596.jpg" id="blogsy-1452378604782.085" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="110"></a>Picture taken by Stef Lhermite, Benemelt</div><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-17724804587068621832016-01-09T08:41:00.001+01:002016-01-09T08:41:23.367+01:00Seamless Arrival at Princess Elisabeth Station<p>The Ilyushin flight took off as planned at 10:00 on a sunny morning in Capetown. About six hours later we arrived at the notouriously windy airfield of Novolazarevskaya Station. In the upcoming days stormy weather is expected for the Dronning Maud Land area, and luckily the BELARE team was able to catch the feeder flight to Princess Elisabeth immediately (while all other groups were transferred to shelters). At about 20:30 local time we were welcomed by the station team waiting for us in the background of the familiar Utsteinen mountain. It is nice to be back and operations at the base are at full swing because the supply vessel has already reached the ice edge two days ago. So far everything is on time and even ahead of schedule. After a long day, we are looking forward to hop into to our (already prepared!) beds and will commence unpacking and field training in the coming days. For now we enjoy the magnificent view of the Sor Rondane mountain range surrounded by ice, ice and again ice. Somehow you never get used to that surrounding.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Krj2EqY29M8/VpC3QdLSEKI/AAAAAAAAAQk/0toT8B6NbcQ/s2048/Photo%25252020160109082949164.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Krj2EqY29M8/VpC3QdLSEKI/AAAAAAAAAQk/0toT8B6NbcQ/s500/Photo%25252020160109082949164.jpg" id="blogsy-1452325257722.051" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rU7PKt2moIE/VpC3WTc59KI/AAAAAAAAAQs/eQyBD4F3eXk/s2048/Photo%25252020160109082949162.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rU7PKt2moIE/VpC3WTc59KI/AAAAAAAAAQs/eQyBD4F3eXk/s500/Photo%25252020160109082949162.jpg" id="blogsy-1452325257670.2974" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XdxWYIPLUNo/VpC3JwMFEdI/AAAAAAAAAQc/v4N3WVbiVSs/s2048/Photo%25252020160109082949165.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XdxWYIPLUNo/VpC3JwMFEdI/AAAAAAAAAQc/v4N3WVbiVSs/s500/Photo%25252020160109082949165.jpg" id="blogsy-1452325257714.3943" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-71728822523000073492016-01-07T15:42:00.001+01:002016-01-07T15:42:41.091+01:00ALCI meeting and scheduled departure<div>At today's ALCI meeting the flight from Capetown towards Novolazarevskaya has been confirmed. We will be leaving <a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2" x-apple-data-detectors="true">on Friday morning at 10:00</a> <p> with a relatively newly commissioned Ilyushin 76. Weather conditions are favourable at the moment and we hope that the entire team of 7 BELARE (Belgian Antarctic Research Expedition) scientists make it without problems in one go using a feeder flight from Novolazarevskaya to Princess Elisabeth Station with a modified Basler DC3.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;" caption="Glimpse of the ALCI meeting at Cape Town"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VGx9MhSRVr8/Vo54y6BrZnI/AAAAAAAAAQM/WMxvBFM8S3U/s2048/Photo%25252020160107153956898.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VGx9MhSRVr8/Vo54y6BrZnI/AAAAAAAAAQM/WMxvBFM8S3U/s500/Photo%25252020160107153956898.jpg" id="blogsy-1452177748415.992" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div></div><p>At the briefing we met many old science friends from other nations, particularly from the British Antarctic Survey (UK) and the Alfred Wegener Institute (Germany). In total the flight will transport 52 people for various scientific projects. Our bags are packed, and if everything goes as planned we will be leaving Capetown in record-breaking transition period of only two days.</p><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-34519722351994469222016-01-06T18:00:00.001+01:002016-01-06T21:20:03.988+01:00Start of the last field seasonFinally, the last leg of the field work of the IceCon project. This time Dr Reinhard Drews (ULB) and Dr. Nicolas Bergeot (ROB) will form the team to finish up the last measurements for the project and retrieve the data that has been collected so far. Today they arrived safely in Cape Town for the first leg of the voyage. It is planned to fly out on Friday to Antarctic, but all depends on the weather conditions that don't look so well so far.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reinhard (left) and Nico, ready for departure in Brussels Airport (5 Januray 2016).</td></tr>
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The field work has - as usual - a very tight plan, including travel to the ice shelf to retrieve radar instruments and reinstall the GNSS/GPS systems for another year of deployment that are part of the Tweeting Ice Shelf (<a dir="ltr" href="http://tweetiniceshelf.blogspot.com/" x-apple-data-detectors-result="4" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://tweetiniceshelf.blogspot.com</a> - @TweetinIceShelf on Twitter). A second set of radar measurements the the ApRES system (phase sensitive radar) needs to be done on Derwael ice rise, in order to get the vertical velocity field within the ice mass. The geodetic GNSS will also be dismantled there. Finally, a series of further measurements with radar (high and low frequency + ApRES) will be carried out in the vicinity of the grounding line, enabling to have sufficient data to constrain the ongoing modelling of the deglaciation in this area. </div>
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The two other cGNSS systems on rock need to be revisited as well, checked, data downloaded and put in operation again. And all this in one month.<br />
We'll keep you posted on the events, live from the field.<br />
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IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-44539229797515116412014-12-26T09:13:00.004+01:002014-12-26T09:14:01.588+01:00The ice-core drilling challenge<br />
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Ice core drilling is challenging and</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> therefore, very</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">exciting. This season, we had set the objectives very high for the ice core drilling</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> team, </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Jean-Louis </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Tison, </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">PhD </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">student </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Morgane</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> Philippe, and mechanic </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Kristof</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Soete</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">,</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> who were all very happy to take</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> that challenge!</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> If you remember well, in 2012, we drilled 120 meters in 11 days, and we encountered some problems on which</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> IPF and Eclipse Ice D</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">rill have been working since then. This year, we planned</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> to drill 3 boreholes: two shallow-firn cores of 30 meters and one ice core of about 160 meters, in 17 days.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">After setting up and being stuck for 2 days by the first storm, we could finally start dr</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">ill</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">ing</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> the</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> first 30 meters at </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Derwael </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Ice Rise</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> on the 3</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7px/8px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">rd</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> of December</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">. This drilling and the next one </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">went really smooth</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">. </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Almost every run yielded a 1.40</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">m beautiful piece of firn core, with very few thin ice layers (less than 1mm). </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">The two 30m boreholes were drilled within 3 days</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, just before the second storm hit us</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">.</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> These boreholes were a</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">lso </span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">“</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">tele</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 18px/21px Calibri; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">viewed” which means that we recorded a digital image of the borehole with a special camera, at very high resolution.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNIwi6P2D8tjPPWMhUrNESJDgHwPOmZn4CmIfB2ojQuKmwbAmT6y_w05NpbPmfKN1vOTsIyqMZQe3JAsTPZ1bTinvoFHhSA6HpvuntOkcc5n0otjh6zg10sm4MbQYxTY4joV7PNUQwpDrp/s1600/b6ff608f4cea0737c46c2e98947f8258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNIwi6P2D8tjPPWMhUrNESJDgHwPOmZn4CmIfB2ojQuKmwbAmT6y_w05NpbPmfKN1vOTsIyqMZQe3JAsTPZ1bTinvoFHhSA6HpvuntOkcc5n0otjh6zg10sm4MbQYxTY4joV7PNUQwpDrp/s1600/b6ff608f4cea0737c46c2e98947f8258.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">On the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">Roi</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">Baudouin</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> Ice Shelf, drilling the third hole was not </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">such an easy task</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">. There are several reasons for that: one of them is the number of ice layers, sometimes 20 cm thick that the drill encounters regularly during its progression. Another reason is that </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">we reached ice much faster on the shelf, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">(~</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">30 meters</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">) and the firn – ice transition is always a difficult part to go through, since we have to adjust many parameters. For example, we had to change to more </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">powerful</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> core dogs, designed by </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">IPF,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> otherwise the drill head could not break the cores anymore.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">But the real p</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">roblems started </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">at</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> 54 m,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> when</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> the drill got stuck at the bottom… </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">after trying all we coul</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">d do without damaging the drill</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">(</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">blowing the fuses, using the hand crank, leaving the cable under tension for one night</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">)</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">, we decided that we would need to poor</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">diluted </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">antifreeze</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> down the hole, as it has been done in other drilling</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> programs. It was done within 24 hours</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">th</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">anks to </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">a very </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">efficient </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">logistical help from IPF</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> and a tube transport system</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">. To everyone’s relief, t</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">he drill was lo</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">ose the next morning. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">Surprisingly</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">, t</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">he core was in very good state in the barrel, so we decided to try </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">restart in the same hole, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">and it</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> work</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">ed!</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">F</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">rom that moment, we worked</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">non-stop</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> during two days and two nights,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> with the whole team taking turns to drill as deep as possible</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">, slowly removing the leftover antifreeze at the same time. Unfortunately,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">time was running out and we could not miss our plane, unless we wanted to stay </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">in Antarctica </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">until February. We </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">managed </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">to go </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">down</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> to 107m, instead of the 155 meters needed to reach the ocean</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">, but this already represents a lot of valuable material, as well as a very informative </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">televiewer</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> image of the borehole, showing precisely every single ice layer, a signature of about 200 years of the surface melting history in this typical place on the ice shelf. W</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;">e</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> will soon</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"> compare it with all the other data: those from the different radars used in the IceCon project, but also the data from the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://benemelt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Benemelt</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://benemelt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> project</a>.</span></div>
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<br />IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-76262283312059898322014-12-18T10:11:00.002+01:002014-12-18T10:11:29.018+01:00On travel, storms and science
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Back at the station!! And here a very short overview of the accomplishments of the IceCon project. Over the next couple of days, more in-depth accounts will be given here.</div>
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We left PEA on 27 November in the evening for a night and a day travel to Derwael ice rise. Camp installment went smoothly, but after one day we got caught in a storm, and not a nice one. Atmospheric pressure dropped very quickly, winds picked up and snow drift was amazing. Furthermore, it was quite warm, meaning that snow melted in contact with persons and goods. We had to leave are tents and sleep in the containers for 2 days. The storm lasted for more than two days and it took another day to clean up camp. For science, this meant a delay, but it is amazing how quickly we picked up after that.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_JuAs3iv8hYJ0Z68htpvlsduAVhyphenhyphentEPaOjmLTDCVBLyZTAiKtLxrcnFbbkFkuSFrM9DvnfowoRHty8h5xjbmNtLMqnaRxLq_cw9zsA86hSpIOQDbXHyUAO7t-AtSrnRqRD1T0n6CV67M7/s1600/P1070312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_JuAs3iv8hYJ0Z68htpvlsduAVhyphenhyphentEPaOjmLTDCVBLyZTAiKtLxrcnFbbkFkuSFrM9DvnfowoRHty8h5xjbmNtLMqnaRxLq_cw9zsA86hSpIOQDbXHyUAO7t-AtSrnRqRD1T0n6CV67M7/s1600/P1070312.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting the contents out of the tents during the storm at Derwael ice rise</td></tr>
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The drill hole of 2012 was retrieved (under three meters of snow) and was again televiewed: this is an instrument that images the interior of the borehole. It was done in 2012 and we hope to see changes in the internal structure when comparing with the 2014 data. The cGPS station was again covered under a lot of snow (as usual), but also here the system worked perfectly through the Antarctic winter and all data were retrieved. In a couple of days Nico managed with the help of Kristof, Raphie, Cristophe and Jan to get also this station installed again for another (third) winter. Another task was to drill two 30 meter firn cores at either side of the ice divide of Derwael. While it would normally take 2 days for each of them, it was remarkably done in less time, including the installation of the drill equipment at either site (4 kilometers apart). We noticed from the drilling in 2012 and subsequent radar surveys that the accumulation variability across the ice divide is very large, with one side having an accumulation rate that is twice as high as the other, due to a so-called foehn effect, leading to more precipitation at one side and erosion due to sublimation and wind scouring at the lee side of the ice rise. If you are in the field, you have the impression that the ice rise is a gently sloping, hardly noticeable rise in the surface elevation, but its effect on mass balance is quite impressive. All boreholes were subsequently linked through radar profiles with our snow radar. Finally, we installed also a whole network of pRES measurements. This new type of radar enables us to measure directly change in the internal structure of the ice, which is necessary to identify the effects of snow compaction and strain to interpret the cGPS data. We already identified that the surface of Derwael ice rise is thinning, but we wish to reveal by how much exactly and what the processes are behind. The pRES data will complement the results from our coffee-cans we installed two years ago and have been functioning for the last two years. Unfortunately, only two of them were still operational (again under three meters of snow!) and we had to abandon them this time. However, the pRES will hopefully give more detailed insight in the dynamics of the ice. Our work at Derwael ended again with a storm, this time less forceful (we could stay in the tents), but it was again a two-day delay (storm + getting the camp cleaned up).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvyoD_LCUdkZWrRh-28-QzOPSwU1QVIE5dJKwES9JcVFQYhZ3ed187MRvr8upp6NUvpG5733fd2azo1B6j5nrYoJ-u7xp2gDdsz06n3z5ITkhz6SM1rF8oMiBdO6TgS8j_XqllLWx4Pys/s1600/P1070344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvyoD_LCUdkZWrRh-28-QzOPSwU1QVIE5dJKwES9JcVFQYhZ3ed187MRvr8upp6NUvpG5733fd2azo1B6j5nrYoJ-u7xp2gDdsz06n3z5ITkhz6SM1rF8oMiBdO6TgS8j_XqllLWx4Pys/s1600/P1070344.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pRES measurements at Derwael ice rise</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Digging out the cGPS station</td></tr>
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In the morning of 8 December we moved the camp to the Roi Baudouin ice shelf (RBIS) for another series of exciting measurements. One of them was the third drilling through the ice shelf. Although such a floating ice shelf looks relatively flat with a constant ice thickness between 250 and 300 m, some areas are significantly thinner. These are elongated depressions hardly a couple of hundred meters in width, but stretching from the grounding line (contact of the Antarctic ice sheet with the ocean) to the edge of the ice shelf (more than hundred kilometer). We already found out that these depressions are formed by deeply incised channels at the bottom of the ice shelf so that ice thickness is around 150 m. These features are presumably formed at the grounding line and transported (advected) with the ice flow, but they may also indicate melting at the bottom of the shelf. Therefore we carried out deep drilling through the ice shelf and complemented this with shallow radar surveys as well as pRES measurements that directly can measure bottom melting (if present). The shallow radar was also used to link the borehole in the shelf with shallow cores as part of the BENEMELT project of Jan Lenaerts. The drilling went not so smoothly, but after some interventions, we were capable to drill to 107m. Several pRES measurements were carried out across the channels and the instrument was then finally buried in the snow and left for the winter. It will record every hour the vertical change in the ice shelf. Together with 2 other GPS instruments at the side of the channel to witness the flow, they will send their position every day. The latter is part of the @TweetinIceShelf project (more later).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drilling through the ice shelf with the Eclipse drill</td></tr>
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In short, and despite the bad weather at Derwael, the scientific programme was carried out completely. The drill didn't make it all the way to the bottom of the shelf, but what has been recovered is already a wealth of information that will be extremely useful in understanding ice-shelf dynamics. We wish to express our gratitude to the support at PEA, because it was quite something to make the different projects (IceCon, BENEMELT, SISMO) work together and change the plans according to the unpredictability of the weather. </div>
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IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-1294666072790070672014-11-27T09:01:00.000+01:002014-11-27T09:01:05.629+01:00It’s time to go to the field …
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yesterday, thanks to the hard work of
Jean-Louis and Morgane, the Eclipse Drill passed the test and was installed on
the sledge:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>everything is now ready to
go to the field. The schedule of the next weeks is the following: after
crossing the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf for about 200 km, which should pass slightly
more than 20 hours, we will arrive on Derwael Ice Rise, where we will set up the
first Camp! Brice and Frank will first of all deploy the radar to make the
first measurements of ice thickness and ice layers, which will facilitate exact
positioning of the first drill site. We will spend 1 week at this camp (we plan
to drill two holes and cover the area with pRES measurements). The next two
weeks will be dedicated to the setup of the 2 GPSs (follow @tweetiniceshelf,
funded by “les 10Km de l’ULB”) on the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf. On the same site,
we will also perform many radar measurements, drill a deep ice core (155
meters), and conduct CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) measurements under
the ice shelf. Finally, we will revisit the GPS points that were installed by
Reinhard and Nicolas last year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-78428904267720568232014-11-23T23:37:00.001+01:002014-11-23T23:37:44.757+01:00Preparations
<p> <a x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" style="line-height: 1.3em;">Saturday morning</a> was spent to the second and the last part of the field training around Utsteinen. Only Nicolas dropped out on this one because he had to revisit the cGPS station at Asuka. Frank dropped out as well ... because of not enough skidoos around. On the program: handling the skidoo ! Now, everyone is ready to get into the field in a secure way.</p>
<a x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event"> </a><div>
<a x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event"></a><a x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event"> </a><div><a x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event"></a></div> </div> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>The remainder of the day was spent on verifying and testing different instruments: Frank and Brice took care of the pRES, GSSI, and several GPS systems (assembly of antennas, material checking, matlab code verifications, …). A novel part of the field trip is the use of a phase-sensitive radar (or pRES). As any other radar we commonly use in polar regions, the pRES enables to determine the thickness of the ice by sending out an electromagnetic signal that bounces off when it reaches the bottom of the ice and is received back at the instrument. The wave speed through ice is known, so that the ice thickness can be inferred. However, any radar is also capable of detecting internal structures in the ice. The pRES is capable of seeing changes in the position of these structures over time. So, if you send out at exact the same place an electromagnetic signal a year later, you may detect the change in position of these structures, from which the vertical flow of the ice can be inferred. This is quite unique, because we normally don't have any direct measurement of how ice moves at it interior. At the surface, horizontal flow speeds are easily detected through a GPS measurement, but not inside the ice mass. These parameters are essential in the IceCon project, because the ice dynamics need to be taken into account to interpret our geodetic GPS signals.</p>
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<div>During this time, Morgane et Jean-Louis finished the assembly of the last parts of the drill. It is no easy task as some connections need to be welded, inside a very crucial section, called "the anti-torque". This fancy device aims at decoupling the movement of the drill motor, from the movement of the cable to which it is attached. Having done that, we assembled the winch that lifts up the drill from the horizontal to the vertical position. We are almost ready for the first test borehole. This one will be used to test another instrument, a borehole camera that produces a virtual image of the ice core. Another borehole will be drilled in blue ice, in order to test the efficiency of the new cutting head for drilling into stiff ice.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Beezl2CMlAU/VHJhpptpHaI/AAAAAAAAAOA/OeL77hqZHYw/s463/Photo%25252020141124003650.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Beezl2CMlAU/VHJhpptpHaI/AAAAAAAAAOA/OeL77hqZHYw/s463/Photo%25252020141124003650.jpg" id="blogsy-1416782257693.4917" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="463" height="309"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k9y6ABhvK3w/VHJhrZQj34I/AAAAAAAAAOI/H-eCacyvF6o/s457/Photo%25252020141124003650.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k9y6ABhvK3w/VHJhrZQj34I/AAAAAAAAAOI/H-eCacyvF6o/s457/Photo%25252020141124003650.jpg" id="blogsy-1416782257701.9724" class="aligncenter" width="457" height="343" alt=""></a></div> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Once in the field, we will drill two 30 m deep ice cores on Derwael Ice Rise, 2 km on each side of the divide, to investigate the spatial variability of snow accumulation induced by this 300 m high topographic feature. We will then move the base camp on the "Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf", where we will drill all the way down the ice shelf to reach the ocean water (about 150 meters) and investigate the presence of marine ice. This ice is in fact refrozen meltwater that accumulates under the ice shelf, influencing its stability.</p>
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<div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-44274338213516947192014-11-21T08:53:00.001+01:002014-11-21T10:36:52.980+01:00Welcome to the Princess Elisabeth Station21 Novembre, l’ensemble de l’équipe est maintenant à PES. Le survol et l’immensité de l’Antarctique, l’arrivée à la station avec les montagnes en arrière-plan ne peuvent laisser personne indifférent. L’équipe de la station nous attendait pour décharger le matériel et nous faire un premier tour de la base ; perchée sur une arrête rocheuse, elle domine le paysage aux alentours.<br />
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<span style="color: #010101;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">Vous pouvez voir sur le t-shirt ci-dessus l’indication 10 Belare. Comme expliqué hier, on fête cette année les 10 ans du début du projet de construction de la station. Mais, c’est également pour Frank le dixième anniversaire de son premier pas sur Utsteinen puisqu’il faisait partie de l’équipe chargée de faire les premières mesures scientifiques avant la construction de la station. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #010101;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">L’après-midi de notre Saint V fut consacré à la planification des différentes missions. </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vers 15h</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, direction une zone de crevasse pour notre premier entrainement de terrain. Mise en conditions réelles et parfois très réelles étaient au programme : comment sortir d’une crevasse, secourir un blessé, … ça laissera de très bons souvenirs notamment lorsque l’un des harnais a cédé … . Ce matin nous terminerons notre entrainement de terrain et nous commencerons à vérifier l’ensemble du matériel (radars, GPS, drill, …).</span></span></span></div>
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IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-42686601262222373122014-11-20T22:06:00.001+01:002014-11-20T22:06:32.225+01:0020 November 2014: the long haul to Princess Elisabeth.
<p> BELARE, the Belgian Antarctic Research Expedition, exists 10 years. The first expedition, back in 2004, was meant to find a suitable spot to construct the Princess Elisabeth Station. The station was supposed to be build on rock (to make it longer lasting - or at least technically more simpler as it would not be covered in the ever accumulating snow. At that time we visited several potential sites that were selected according to access, rock strength and flatness of the terrain. The Utsteinen rim was far out the best place. But there was something more interesting about that place. Since it is situated at the Western side of the Sor Rondane Mountains, it is also more protected from severe winds (especially katabatic ones) which makes it so nicec to work. I mention this, because going to Princess Elisabeth demands several stopovers. The first one in Cape Town, but no-one is going to complain about that, the second one is Novo airstrip on the Antarctic coast just off South Africa. It is a less protected side and when we arrived yesterday morning at 3AM GMT in fairly good weather conditions, we had to offload the plane in a fierce wind. Most of us are familiar with those uncomfortable conditions, but it is even more strenuous for the newly arrived who are immediately confronted with the harsh conditions of field work. </p>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Offloading the plane at Novo and separating the cargo for the different feeder flights</td></tr>
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<p>The weather conditions gradually improved, the wind got down by <a x-apple-data-detectors-result="2" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" style="line-height: 1.3em;">6AM</a>, the time we went for breakfast and when the plane was offloaded. We had quite a lot of material to unpack and pack and to shift it in two heaps, each heap for a feeder flight that would take us to Princess Elisabeth station. After a nap in the barracks at Novo, the first group and cargo left <a x-apple-data-detectors-result="3" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" style="line-height: 1.3em;">at 4PM</a> and a group of 6 stayed behind at Novo (Jean-Louis, Denis, Jan, Nico, Raffi and Frank) waiting for the next flight, that, ..., was rescheduled for the following day. A night at Novo for part of the group and hopefully by noon in at PES.</p>
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<div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-67696877427989953002014-11-17T18:05:00.002+01:002014-11-17T18:05:53.382+01:00Départ imminent pour l’AntarctiqueBonne nouvelle, les conditions météorologiques s’étant améliorées à Novo, le vol pour l’Antarctique qui avait initialement été postposé partira bien demain (18/11) à 23h15. <br />
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Après un vol sans encombre, nous avons retrouvé Morgane pour un premier briefing avec l’ensemble des équipes scientifiques participant à la saison Belare 2014-2015. Ensuite, repos et boulot pour certains, montée du Lion’s head avec une vue impressionnante sur Cape Town pour d’autres.<br />
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<span lang="FR-BE">Ce matin
direction l’aéroport pour une vérification complète du matériel pour Brice et
Jean-Louis (tout est bien arrivé) avant un briefing sur le déroulement du vol avec les responsables d’alci (Antarctic Logistics Centre International).
Nous partirons donc tous ensemble demain soir pour 6h de vol vers Novo avant de
séparer en deux groupes pour le second vol vers PES.</span></div>
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IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-51156892433254523302014-11-14T13:21:00.001+01:002014-11-14T13:21:14.824+01:00J-1 avant le départ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Dernier jour de préparatifs au Laboratoire de Glaciologie avant de rejoindre l’Antarctique ; tout le monde est prêt à partir, et bonne nouvelle la station Princesse Elisabeth est <a href="http://www.antarcticstation.org/multimedia/picture_gallery/back_in_business_for_our_10th_season">opérationnelle </a>! Les radars attendent avec impatience de pouvoir émettre des ondes, les GPS de signaler leur position et le carotteur d’atteindre la base de l’iceshelf.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Profiles radars effectués en 2012/13 sur le Roi Baudouin iceshelf et localisation du futur forage de 155 m</td></tr>
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Pour certains ce sera la 18e mission en Antarctique pour d’autres la première ; les différentes teams seront donc composées de gens très expérimentés et d’autres plein d’énergie ! Nous arriverons à Cape Town dimanche pour une première vérification du matériel. Ensuite, direction Novolazarevskaya (station russe) et arrivée à la station Princesse Elisabeth le 18. Après un entrainement de terrain et une seconde vérification du matériel, nous nous dirigerons le 23 novembre vers les différentes zones d’analyses. Les mesures se feront à partir de 2 camps de base différents : un sur le Derwael ice rise que nous quitterons le 29 novembre et un sur le Roi Baudouin Iceshelf avec un retour prévu à la station le 16 décembre !<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ouverture de la station et localisation des différents camps de base</td></tr>
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IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-14740560746902912252014-11-05T18:59:00.000+01:002014-11-05T18:59:23.113+01:00En route ... for the 2014 expedition to Antarctica<b>Press release ULB</b><br />
<br />
L’Antarctique est bien sûr le terrain de recherche naturel pour les glaciologues. Ce 15<br />
novembre, cinq chercheurs belges s’envolent pour la région du Dronning Maud Land, dans<br />
l’est de l’Antarctique, à environ 120km de la station Princesse Elisabeth.<br />
Coordonnée par Frank Pattyn, co-directeur du Laboratoire de Glaciologie, de l’ULB,<br />
l’expédition compte quatre chercheurs de la Faculté des Sciences de l’ULB – outre Frank<br />
Pattyn, Jean-Louis Tison (co-directeur), Morgane Philippe (doctorante),<br />
Brice Van Liefferinge (doctorant) – et un chercheur de l’Observatoire royal de Belgique,<br />
Nicolas Bergeot.<br />
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Objectif de la mission ? Récolter les données qui permettront de reconstruire le bilan de<br />
masse du dernier millénaire dans cette région de l’Antarctique et l’état de la calotte actuelle,<br />
notamment grâce à un carottage.<br />
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Les chercheurs vont aussi installer un radar interférométrique et plusieurs GPS afin de<br />
mesurer en continu le mouvement de la glace et de mesurer la fonte de la plateforme<br />
glaciaire. Ces données seront transmises via satellite une fois par jour pendant un an. A<br />
suivre sur le compte Twitter de la plateforme glaciaire, @TweetinIceShelf<br />
L’expédition s’inscrit dans le projet ICECON, soutenu par la Politique scientifique fédérale<br />
(Belspo).<br />
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<br />IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-80580487034678435602013-12-16T21:58:00.001+01:002013-12-16T21:58:37.365+01:00Preparing the return<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-13kKIpYxP6U/Uq9pZ6zi8-I/AAAAAAAAALU/XuB7_YoQYmQ/s1024/Photo%25252016%252520Dec%2525202013%25252019%25253A29.jpg" target="_blank" style=" "><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-13kKIpYxP6U/Uq9pZ6zi8-I/AAAAAAAAALU/XuB7_YoQYmQ/s500/Photo%25252016%252520Dec%2525202013%25252019%25253A29.jpg" id="blogsy-1387227517154.0684" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="333"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skua</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-OuzZ-b3wYbQ/Uq9pcOiEAmI/AAAAAAAAALc/yQLZ9kFjlvQ/s1024/Photo%25252016%252520Dec%2525202013%25252019%25253A41.jpg" target="_blank" style=" "><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-OuzZ-b3wYbQ/Uq9pcOiEAmI/AAAAAAAAALc/yQLZ9kFjlvQ/s500/Photo%25252016%252520Dec%2525202013%25252019%25253A41.jpg" id="blogsy-1387227517124.1733" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="750"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Utsteinen nunatak</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p> Nicolas, Lionel<span style="line-height: 1.3em;"> and Reinhard are now back to the station since two days. Knowing that the field season was successful, everybody is more relaxed.</span></p>
<p>Nicolas took another full day of snow mobile (about 240 km between 20 and 40 km/h) to make sure that the cGPS stations ELIS and ROB2, installed last year on Seal nunatak and 2 weeks ago on Yet Yuten nunatak, respectively, are running smoothly.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m1ynyN45NJI/Uq9peelOfMI/AAAAAAAAALk/bZ3B19AM5fY/s1024/Photo%25252016%252520Dec%2525202013%25252019%25253A32.jpg" target="_blank" style=" "><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m1ynyN45NJI/Uq9peelOfMI/AAAAAAAAALk/bZ3B19AM5fY/s500/Photo%25252016%252520Dec%2525202013%25252019%25253A32.jpg" id="blogsy-1387227517102.3667" class="aligncenter" width="500" height="333" alt=""></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reinhard very happy with the successful field season</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>Meanwhile, Reinhard and Lionel went visiting the surroundings by foot as well as with a special crazy bicycle with large tyres. Despite the harsh climate, birds are living close to the station: the Snow Petrel and the Skua. Those birds breed on Utsteinen nunatak and have to reach the ocean 200 km ago to feed. The bigger Skuas usually chase the smaller Snow Petrels to steal their catches.</p>
<p>Bad weather is expected between the 19th and the 22nd so our flight schedule, or at least the rumours about it, has changed a few times during the last few days. The up-to-date schedule is to take off with a feeder flight on Wednesday 18 to Novolazarevskaya where an Iliouchine should bring us to Cape Town before the storm starts.</p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-42529325960396888942013-12-16T07:12:00.001+01:002013-12-16T07:12:46.155+01:00Return from the coast<p> <span style="line-height: 1.3em;">The IceCon and Be:Wise researchers are back at PEA after a long trip (~17 hours with Prinoth). The 12 days spent on the coast were used at their maximum and good weather permitted measurements every day.</span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vhdaTpg93HE/Uq6Z0WiyUWI/AAAAAAAAAKo/roOFnB0XIBY/s1024/Photo%25252007%252520Dec%2525202013%25252017%25253A44.jpg" target="_blank" style=" "><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vhdaTpg93HE/Uq6Z0WiyUWI/AAAAAAAAAKo/roOFnB0XIBY/s500/Photo%25252007%252520Dec%2525202013%25252017%25253A44.jpg" id="blogsy-1387174365105.5422" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="192"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GPS measurement on Roi Baudoin ice shelf.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The entire GPS network installed last year on the Roi Baudouin ice shelf has been reoccupied. Some markers were lost during the winter due to high snow accumulation and strong windy conditions but most markers could be recovered. Additionally, a new network of 14 markers has been installed and occupied twice with a time delay of 6 days. The new network is denser than the previous one and focuses on surface depression in the ice shelf which is linked to sub ice-shelf channels: The idea is to measure the velocity gradient across these channels and to check as to whether or not the channeling introduces weak spots in the ice shelf: Actually, on the second reoccupation, unexpectedly (not seen the week before) open crevasses where visible close to this new network. This seems evidence of higher deformation rates in this region.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-efZCIbFsyQw/Uq6Z2ifJoVI/AAAAAAAAAKw/Tb58PE4_al4/s1024/Photo%25252016%252520Dec%2525202013%25252007%25253A10.jpg" target="_blank" style=" "><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-efZCIbFsyQw/Uq6Z2ifJoVI/AAAAAAAAAKw/Tb58PE4_al4/s500/Photo%25252016%252520Dec%2525202013%25252007%25253A10.jpg" id="blogsy-1387174365061.6345" class="aligncenter" width="500" height="762" alt=""></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ROB1 GPS station in 2012 and in 2013 on Derwael</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>On Derwael ice rise, the team found the ROB1 GPS station as well as the coffee-can marker just a little bit above the snow surface (see pictures). During the winter, the snow accumulation was ~140 cm. The ROB1 station worked during a whole year, without data interruption. The first results show a subsidence of the station of the order of 1m in a year. No significant horizontal motion is detected which confirms that the station is indeed on the top of the ice rise. However, these first results need to be confirmed by more accurate processing when the team will be back in Belgium. In addition to the maintenance of the ROB1 station, the team also reoccupied a strain network installed last year and collected complementary radar data and kinematic GPS profiles. </p>
<p>All in all we completed all major objectives of this field season and – thanks to good weather and excellent logistic support from the station team and field guides Alain and Christophe– it was even possible to fit in additional measurements. Hooray.</p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-64067661783616993482013-12-11T13:00:00.001+01:002013-12-11T13:00:57.978+01:00News from the (coastal) front<p> It has been a week now since Reinhard (ULB), Nicolas (ROB), Lionel (ULB), Alain and Christophe left PEA for the coast to investigate the Be:Wise network on the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf (RBIS) and Derwael Ice rise (DIR) for the IceCon project. They now made it to Derwael Ice Rise.</p>
<p>First observations: there was a lot of accumulation over the last season (approximately 1.5m snow equivalent), which makes that the GPS systems needs to be dug out and put up higher (to make the solar panels and wind turbines work properly). The very good news, on the contrary, is that the system has been working throughout the year and was still operational upon arrival!</p>
<p>The coffee-can markers were almost completely buried under the snow, but this did not hamper them from functioning. The measurements of vertical strain at different depths could be carried out, and they will continue (even buried) to do this over the next years. All markers were still well erect and not slanted, compared to those installed on the RBIS.</p>
<p>At RBIS, the team has finished their job in re-measuring all GPS positions. Here, many stakes were slanted due to the wind, and some were even lost. But all in all, the complete strain network could be remeasured.</p>
<p>Weather is fine (and so are they) and they will continue another couple of days at Derwael ice rise before heading back to PEA.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F8SOBxfPdOo/UqhT9e_Bh4I/AAAAAAAAAKY/oRSwCYcwqSo/s1024/Photo%25252004%252520Dec%2525202013%25252007%25253A30.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F8SOBxfPdOo/UqhT9e_Bh4I/AAAAAAAAAKY/oRSwCYcwqSo/s500/Photo%25252004%252520Dec%2525202013%25252007%25253A30.jpg" id="blogsy-1386763257475.7075" class="aligncenter" width="500" height="707" alt=""></a></div>
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<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-2630037132876247932013-12-04T08:28:00.001+01:002013-12-04T08:28:56.634+01:00All is ready for the coast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kGwS-HwAkKk/Up7ZkxmAnBI/AAAAAAAAAJk/KtPAO9CsYwA/s1024/Photo%25252004%252520Dec%2525202013%25252000%25253A03.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kGwS-HwAkKk/Up7ZkxmAnBI/AAAAAAAAAJk/KtPAO9CsYwA/s500/Photo%25252004%252520Dec%2525202013%25252000%25253A03.jpg" id="blogsy-1386142135885.5925" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="333"></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wINdAJWJ9Qw/Up7ZnmuMCsI/AAAAAAAAAJs/nM1EZFzC1PA/s1024/Photo%25252003%252520Dec%2525202013%25252022%25253A48.jpg" target="_blank" style=" "><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wINdAJWJ9Qw/Up7ZnmuMCsI/AAAAAAAAAJs/nM1EZFzC1PA/s500/Photo%25252003%252520Dec%2525202013%25252022%25253A48.jpg" id="blogsy-1386142135878.9167" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="333"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">reinhard setting up the warm corridor between two containers</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p> <span style="line-height: 1.3em;">The last preparations before heading to the coast are ongoing. The PEA team has been very active the last week, even more the last few days and this was highly appreciated by the science team.</span></p>
<p>The departure is planned for tomorrow early morning. It will take at least 17 hours to cover the 195 km between the PEA and the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf (RBIS). Christophe, Alain, Reinhard, Nicolas and Lionel will participate to the mission.</p>
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<p>The rather big convoy will consist in two snow groomers pulling 4 containers for the scientific equipment, all the facilities to live a nearly normal life during the next 10 days, 6 snow scooters and all the necessary fuel.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ASjOGT_zMNw/Up7ZrpvkCRI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/apXKFOtTQwA/s1024/Photo%25252004%252520Dec%2525202013%25252000%25253A30.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ASjOGT_zMNw/Up7ZrpvkCRI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/apXKFOtTQwA/s500/Photo%25252004%252520Dec%2525202013%25252000%25253A30.jpg" id="blogsy-1386142135919.7874" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="188"></a></div>
<p>The scientific schedule is as follows :</p>
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<p>-> 3 or 4 days are planned on the RBIS near the Pinning Point (PP1) to retrieve the strain rate markers and record their new GPS positions since last year, perform low frequency radar measurements on the ice shelf and on the pinning point to improve our knowledge of the bedrock in that area.</p>
<p>-> 50 kms from the RBIS, 3 more days are planned to investigate the Derwael ice rise by performing GPS and radar measurements to better characterise the Raymond bump beneath the ice divide, which will help our understanding of the last deglaciation.</p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5136475908710227792.post-34403239937043162712013-12-01T17:43:00.001+01:002013-12-01T17:45:04.417+01:00A new cGPS installed south of the Sor Rondane MassifThe first main achievement of the mission happened yesterday: Nicolas, Lionel, Alain and Christophe successfully set up a cGPS on the Yet Yuten nunatak in the Röysane mountain range, at an altitude of 2371 m, 40 km south west of PEA.<br />
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This 5th cGPS installed by the ROB in collaboration with Luxembourg University, in the Dronning Maud Land forms a 265 km straight line with the 4 others cGPS installed the previous years (see map). Two systems were already operational at PEA, one in the Seal nunatak and one at the coast.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWmGdB16CPCn7x7j2jmKq9op57cMPyGMdFm9ExFa7maAkG-jsiwVseR3vp5Az1j_xSrVw-yMcvSqBQdSZ-UN_XMT5jvKlhSCcacCT-grn2jYydoT_i016F5RCudpYGWH4lV7aMSpfHHJMh/s1600/6-Sunday-post.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWmGdB16CPCn7x7j2jmKq9op57cMPyGMdFm9ExFa7maAkG-jsiwVseR3vp5Az1j_xSrVw-yMcvSqBQdSZ-UN_XMT5jvKlhSCcacCT-grn2jYydoT_i016F5RCudpYGWH4lV7aMSpfHHJMh/s320/6-Sunday-post.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">positions of the cGPS</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The purpose of those cGPS is to measure continuously the lithospheric rebound due to the decrease of the ice weight since the last deglaciation. Its order of magnitude here is about a few mm per year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwsNL9KaOMDX__Icx6nV3L2e_eAIdtgL-dJwpsox1GKrBvMt3LOVvmZmmIDLK_Y4gvi45gFxI3NFSlsBLaZVVqaW54aBIs18GV70mDSv6TVJ4RIlypoL1rIrFZ-dHGts77urrPtU6-iH_/s1600/P1000369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwsNL9KaOMDX__Icx6nV3L2e_eAIdtgL-dJwpsox1GKrBvMt3LOVvmZmmIDLK_Y4gvi45gFxI3NFSlsBLaZVVqaW54aBIs18GV70mDSv6TVJ4RIlypoL1rIrFZ-dHGts77urrPtU6-iH_/s320/P1000369.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">cGPS installed on the Yet
Yuten nunatak</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Meanwhile, Reinhard has been preparing the very last settings of the radar system so every chance to perform successful field measurements is on our side. Everybody is looking forward for the departure towards the coast which is planned on Tuesday.<br />
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Two days ago, all the scientific team was brought by Christophe and Jacques (the field guide and medical doctor of PEA 14 km from the station to do the field training, which consists in pulling someone out of crevasse and, mostly, to learn how to not fall inside those ice traps that can be tens of meters deep.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgm7nSFncZj-Fe_aB4QjmuAw-D5t64xBg-9-qJa_iMFsRLmL65Ar4LwtO8NKkSW2staC2cFwzAdYpvop5UaccMKt5x39Iwn5_JxWnaqKou-1guhBzSt9Vp4rfR8i0egzEcVLv6XtEZzIN/s1600/P1000281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgm7nSFncZj-Fe_aB4QjmuAw-D5t64xBg-9-qJa_iMFsRLmL65Ar4LwtO8NKkSW2staC2cFwzAdYpvop5UaccMKt5x39Iwn5_JxWnaqKou-1guhBzSt9Vp4rfR8i0egzEcVLv6XtEZzIN/s320/P1000281.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nicolas having fun in the
crevasse</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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IceConhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00947013254060496214noreply@blogger.com0