Coring past 200 m depth at Allan Hills, ground radar surveys continue, airborne radar team back in the air

Week of January 2, 2023

By Peter Neff

At I-165 Allan Hills ice core camp, although the team moved the Blue Ice Drill components to a new location last week, persistent strong wind prevented the team from safely erecting the drill and tent. Instead, the team focused on completing the deeper Foro borehole near camp, dutifully working their way to the bottom at 205.75 m despite considerable drilling challenges. The team also collected several shallow PICO cores from the Cul de Sac site. As of the evening of Jan. 9, the I-165 camp has fully pulled out and everyone has returned safely to McMurdo! We are working to schedule a day trip to collect shallow cores from Elephant Moraine, hopefully next week.

Over at the Allan Hills accumulation area, last week I-188 had a day-trip to the Elephant Moraine old ice site, hopping to three different sites to collect radar data before returning to camp. They are nearing completion of their ground surveys and looking to take out camp by the end of this week (Jan. 10-11), if weather allows. On Jan. 5, the I-188 team hosted the NY Air National Guard ski-landing coordinating officer to evaluate potential LC-130 support in coming seasons to move equipment for a possible 1200 m, ~1 million-year ice core.

Finally, the I-185 COLDEX airborne survey team at South Pole Station have good weather and are back in the air after waiting much of the last week. They have completed three 5-hour survey flights in the last three days, for a total of four surveys completed. The first COLDEX-ers begin traveling home later this week!

COLDEX Kenn Borek Basler MKB at South Pole Station. Photo Ben Hills.