Little Dome C - Beyond EPICA Drilling Site (75.29917 degS, 122.44516 degE)

Situation Report #15, 16. December 2021

Personnel @LDC: Saverio Panichi (ENEA, Camp Leader), Carlo Barbante (ISP-CNR, PI), Olivier Alemany (IGE), Giacomo Bonanno (ENEA), David Brunet (IPEV), Romain Duphil (IPEV), Matthias Hüther (AWI), Calogero Monaco (ENEA), Anthony Pauty (IPEV), Philippe Possenti (IPEV), Michele Scalet (ENEA), Jakob Schwander (unibe), Thomas Stocker (unibe), Remo Walther (unibe)

Personnel @DC: Gregory Teste (IGE)

Weather at LDC 5 pm: sunny

Meteo at DC 5 pm: T = −24°C, Wind = 10 knt, Wind Chill T = −35°C

In the past few days the BEOIC drilling tent has been a rather busy workshop and the continued reaming work by Philippe, Romain, Carlo and Olivier seem almost a side activity. Matthias continues to assemble the many elements and devices that are required for the ice core drill, while David is installing and adjusting the long benches for ice core logging. He also designs and constructs several practical items that will be needed, such as shelves, and wooden supports for the ventilation system.

BEOIC drilling depth at the end of the day: 128.0 m

Michele and Calogero did weekly maintenance on the power generator which meant power down for 1 hour at Little Dome C. Actually, quite silent in the camp with the generator off.

At RADIX team we logged the bore hole down to 105 m measuring temperature and inclination. We also stretched out the casing tube in order to reduce the unwanted curvature. Preparations also involved assembling the sledge to hold the winch and a foundation to hold the RADIX drilling unit of about half a ton.

Radix drilling depth: 107.6 m

Thomas Stocker and Carlo Barbante