Bedrock was reached Friday June 12th!!!

The current RECAP team proudly presenting the bedrock ice core that reaches down to 584.11m depth. Left to right: Lizzie, Bo, Steff, Trevor, Jan, Andrea, Sarah, Anders, Niccoló, and Jakob.

After 31 days of intensive drilling efforts the RECAP bedrock was reached Friday June 12th!!!

Just before noon (that is Friday morning just before 2 am CET) at a depth of 584.11 m the drill could not penetrate any further. The bedrock core does not look much different from the previously retrieved cores, consisting of almost clear ice with some bubbles and clusters of impurities.

For this last run, however, the cutters on the drill head got damaged, most likely due to contact with gravel or rocks at the base of the ice sheet. Therefore, the deep RECAP ice core drilling was declared for terminated and all camp members joined a celebration in the drill tent.

An attempt to access the borehole with the conical reamer did not lead to further penetration suggesting that the base of the ice has indeed been reached.

Furthermore, a small amount of black particulate matter was attached to the tip of the reamer. The bedrock depth is very close to that predicted by the radar measurements.

In the morning, the cooling unit for the freezer was replaced by the spare unit and it keeps the ice at -25°C.

In the evening, Sarah gave us her well-known fantastic sushi treat. Incredible to have sushi up here under those conditions!

Weather: Mostly overcast, windy, and a lot more snowfall. Temperatures -9°C to -14°C. Wind up to 6 m/s from N and NW.

The bedrock core sitting in the drill. It is hard to see on the image, but the cutters are damaged to due contact with hard material at the base.

Renland FL, Anders