6 May, 2003

Weather: morning low was minus 31F, partly cloudy, wind 15 to 18 knots

Before we could start drilling ice cores we had to do a little digging out. The strong winds from the previous day had filled in our drilling and processing trenches as well as covered many of the necessary tools. It was still quite windy today but the amount of blowing snow had decreased considerably so we could continue drilling. Each person had to make sure that as much of their skin was covered from the elements.

Lou Albershedt is our main driller from Whitefish, Montana. She has spent considerable amounts of time drilling in both the Antarctic and Greenland. Every other summer she and her spouse, Mark, run Raven Camp on Greenland’s ice sheet, which is a training facility for the 109th Air National Guard. The two of the them keep the run-way clear of drifting snow so the 109th can practice landings and take offs from the ice as well as post the weather for that site daily. Lou is an incredibly hard working individual who is obviously well respected by all of her colleagues in Greenland.

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Weather: morning low was=9631F, partly cloudy, wind 15 to 18 knots Before we could start drilling ice cores we had to do a little digging out. The strong winds from the previous day had filled in our drilling and pro cessing trenches as well as covered many of the necessary tools. It was st ill quite windy today but the amount of blowing snow had decreased consider ably so we could continue drilling. Each person had to make sure that as m uch of their skin was covered from the elements. Lou Albershedt is our main driller from Whitefish, Montana. She has spent considerable amounts of time drilling in both the Antarctic and Greenland. Every other summer she and her spouse, Mark, run Raven Camp on Greenland =92s ice sheet, which is a training facility for the 109th Air National Gua rd. The two of the them keep the run-way clear of drifting snow so the 109 th can practice landings and take offs from the ice as well as post the wea ther for that site daily. Lou is an incredibly hard working individual who is obviously well respected by all of her colleagues in Greenland. In this image she is running the variable controller, which allows her to r aise or lower the drill as well as control the drill speed and direction.

In this image she is running the variable controller, which allows her to r aise or lower the drill as well as control the drill speed and direction. When Lou has drilled about 1m she the stops the drill and raises the core. There are two or three little teeth called dogs that break the core and pr event the core from sliding back down the hole. Once the core has reached the surface, Sue will take the outer sleeve off the inner drill that is hol ding the =91tube=92 of ice. The drill is then transferred to a table so th e ice chips can be removed. The ice chips can fill a drilling tube and is one reason that ice cores are restricted to about 1m. Sue and Lou are remo ving the chips and plunging the 1m core to the core handlers so they can th en process the data about the core.