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Here the main snow melter tank goes away from main dome. No more laundry, showers, dishwasher or other unnecessary luxuries. From now on, it is camping style, where we use as little water as possible.

July 15: Water systems and main generator closed down

Lots of smaller tasks accomplished today, but maybe not the most exciting news. We do, however, have some photo documentation from the outside world.

 

What we did this Wednesday:

 

  1. Disconnected main water tank and water system
  2. Transferred drinking water to indoor drum
  3. Blew air through water tubes to avoid freezing
  4. Shut down main generator and moved it onto winter hill
  5. Started backup generator in carpenters’ garage
  6. Turned on Webasto heater in dome
  7. GPS documented camp
  8. Documented carpenter’s garage and large storage trench
  9. Secured main fuel tanks
  10. Moved Skidoo, sledge and snow blower into drill tent and closed it
  11. Closed down one green tent

 

Weather: The day started out friendly, but became very windy during the day. Snow drift and fresh snow from above. Wind 4-20 kt from W. Temp -8C to -12C.

FL, Anders Svensson

The field leader is always assigned the most difficult tasks. Or, the crew is making them up to keep him busy not obstructing any importing tasks. This remains to be revealed.
‘Drink as much water as you can, also more than you want to’ is the repeated anti-headache advise to newcomers in camp. Marie seems to take this advise very serious, completely emptying the drinking water snow smelter. Or maybe she is just cleaning it before it is stored for the winter.
Is this Moonbase Alpha? No, but it is something almost as exotic: The uppermost section of the huge Dye-3 radar station build in 1960 that is slowly disappearing into the ice sheet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye_3). One of the first deep ice cores from Greenland was drilled close to this station and that’s why our colleagues went back to the site to bring the ice core record up to surface. It is important however not to drill too close to the station as the surrounding snow field stratigraphy is disturbed compared to the more distant open field (photo from the Basler flyby last night.)
Another sight we do not experience at GRIP this season: sunset. And the Basler is seen to be strategically parked at the end of the self-groomed ’skiway’ easing the take-off under potentially difficult conditions (photo from the Dye-3 drilling last night).
Today, the ’museum’ ice cores that were drilled at the PFAS site a few weeks ago were safely handed over to the director of the Ilulissat Icefjord Centre, Karl Sandgren, with the help of our good colleague Tracy Sheeley.