Little Dome C - Beyond EPICA Drilling Site (75.29917 degS, 122.44516 degE)
Situation Report #29, 30. December 2021
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View from the roof of the BEOIC tent looking north... Credits: Barbante©PNRA/IPEV
...and south. Credits: Barbante©PNRA/IPEV
Michele happily refueling the fuel tank for the heaters of the recreation tent. Photo: T. Stocker (Leica, SL2-S, 16 mm, f4, 1/640, ISO-100). Credits: Stocker©PNRA/IPEV
Personnel @LDC: Saverio Panichi (ENEA, Camp Leader), Carlo Barbante (ISP-CNR, PI), Olivier Alemany (IGE), Romain Duphil (IGE), Matthias Hüther (AWI), Calogero Monaco (ENEA), Philippe Possenti (IGE), Michele Scalet (ENEA), Jakob Schwander (unibe), Thomas Stocker (unibe), Remo Walther (unibe)
Personnel @DC: Gregory Teste (IGE)
Weather at LDC: sunny, low wind – pleasant day
Meteo at DC 6 pm: T = −32°C, Wind = 10 knt, Wind Chill T = −45°C
The BEOIC drilling tower is now fully assembled. The tilting operation has been tested and approved. When upright the tower exceeds the tent height by about 2 meters. The opposite end of the tower reaches down to the trench. This required some widening of parts of the trench staircase.
In the photo today we present a view from the top of the drilling tower. The orange cover of the roof opening is folded to the side and a view into the tent shows the BEOIC winch in the far background. For a complete 360° view from this unique vantage point in Antarctica, please see the QR code.
Matthias worked on the installation in the drilling cabin which involved the preparation of the table, computer, the controller, and the connection of cables for the drill operators.
At RADIX, we are delighted to report that the drill got free after an agonizing 39 hours. In the meantime, we have attached a second anti-torque unit and re-sharpened the blades. We also changed to the shorter centre drill. Therefore, we plan to resume drilling tomorrow morning.
Radix drilling depth: 250.0 m
Thomas Stocker and Carlo Barbante