12 November, 1998

Thursday, November 12, 1998

Hi everyone! Today's guest speaker at our regular Cape Roberts meeting was a gentleman named Jaap (pronounced Yap) Vandermeer, from the University of Amsterdam. He talked about his research as a glacialogist. He showed us slides of the west coast of Ireland, where glaciers had moved over bedrock, creating some interesting patterns. Thank goodness Ken Verosub is around to explain things to me. Sometimes I can be a bit lost in these daily geology presentations! He always asks me if I have any questions…usually I DO !

Four new boxes of core came in today…but these boxes are different. Instead of 3 rows of core in each box, now there are 4. The drill bit that is being used from now until the end of the drilling is a smaller diameter. The first drill bit was 61mm, and this one is 45 mm in diameter. Even though there were only 4 boxes..each box has more samples for us to take. Fabio and I drilled samples for about 2 hours. Again, the drilling went quickly because of the hardness of the core.

One thing that's better for our paleomag team about the smaller core is that we won't have to trim our samples on the saw anymore. They end up being just the right size for our machines to measure. This will save some much needed time…for measuring! Things are very busy in the paleomag lab. Leo has been taking measurements while we work in the sampling room. The other three scientists all take their turn as well. When Ken Verosub leaves for University of California at Davis next week…he will take with him the samples in the small plastic boxes. These can be tested on the cryogenic magnetometer that he has in his lab at Davis.

I spent a lot of time on the computer answering letters from lots of students, teachers, and friends. It's been so great to get such a huge amount of mail. I love answering your questions and finding out what some of you are up to. Keep writing! Tonight I am going to bed early because I'm really tired. A lot of people on the Cape Roberts project seem to have colds…I think that's what happens when you are working hard and not getting enough sleep. It's easy to get run down. I have been taking my vitamins and trying to get enough rest. I am also drinking a ton of water each day…they say that helps. I feel great and I will be talking with you tomorrow.

Smiles and miles away…

Betty :)

P.S. I'm going to put in some extra pictures from yesterday (as well as some from today) after today's journal. Just so you know I'm not going nuts! You do tend to lose track of what day it is here. I'm glad I'm keeping a journal...it makes me write down the details now, which I will appreciate later!

This is the mailroom where we can pick up our packages and letter mail. To send me mail, you have to know which science project I'm working on. Everything is numb ered carefully.

This room looks empty compared to what it looked like the other day. When I came to pick up my package, there were over 200 boxes of all shapes and sizes stacked in this small room! They post a list over at the galley, and you have to check the list to see if you have a package waiting for you! It was great to get a "care" package from home.

Ken Verosub is looking on while Chris talks about today's core.

Usually we don't see the core whole...so I was excited to see a piece that I could photograph. This is the new size...much smaller than before. The PVC pipe that is next to it gives you an idea of how it is packaged for transport. This pipe gives it support in the boxes.

Here's what our new boxes of core look like. Notice the yellow tags on the end of the box...they tell us exactly where the sample was taken. For example, yesterda y's core samples were taken at over 200 meters down the drill hole.