21 August, 2004

100 meters of core!!

Ever since the announcement: "There is core on deck, core on deck, on Vidar Viking", was made around 1330 on the 19th, we have been receiving steady samples of sediments transferred from the drill ship, the Vidar Viking, over to the Oden every 12 hours. The team of scientists in the Main Lab gets right to work as soon as the core catchers reach the lab table. The drilling has been fairly steady except for a couple of times when thick ice has caused concern for the drilling equipment. Despite these short-term delays all seem to be very happy with the progress. The drill ship is able to stay on site with a minimum of maneuvering and the Oden and Soyuz are busily cruising around keeping the ice broken up and out of the path of the Viking.

As of Friday night, the drilling had reached 100 meters below the sea floor and there was lots of celebrating! We are all hoping for continued successful coring. I am off to the Vidar Viking tomorrow to observe the drilling operation first-hand.

Expedition co-chief, Jan Backman, and scientists examine core samples in Main Lab.