New BID coring location and continued progress from geophysics teams

Week of December 26, 2022

By Peter Neff

After completing their first Blue Ice Drill (BID) ice core at 93 m depth, the I-165 team enjoyed a holiday break before a week transitioning to a new drill location for the BID. With the aid of a Twin Otter, the heavy BID winch sled was repositioned to an area known as the “Cul de Sac,” not far from the Foro drill site, to explore old ice in this area. Foro coring was at 172 m by mid-week, making slow but steady progress toward bedrock estimated at around 200 m depth.

The nearby I-188 ground radar team continued work to complete surveys in the Allan Hills accumulation zone and is planning for a day-long reconnaissance trip to Elephant Moraine in the next week. Both teams are planning for return to McMurdo by mid-January.

I-185 COLDEX airborne geophysics made great progress, getting the survey team, aircraft and crew to South Pole Station. The first 5-hour long survey flight, looking for candidate 1.5 million year old ice core sites, is underway flying toward Dome A and back as of Friday, Dec. 30.

COLDEX I-185 flight plan chosen for Dec. 30 flying a course toward Dome A and back, including an overflight of the South Pole ice core (SPICEcore) site to tie in to this 1751 m deep ice core record (dated to 54,000 years old). Map courtesy Duncan Young.