Sunday sightseeing

Niccolò in front of a double pit wall with ice layers. Although there are melt layers in the ice cap, some of the ice layers in this pit have developed since the pit was dug.

After a slow start Sunday morning, the drill tent was moved to the cargo line after lunch. Then it was time for Sunday sightseeing. First point of interest was a double pit dug by Andrea and Niccolò just out of camp. From the firn and ice cores we know that the ice cap contains many melt layers, typically up to a few centimeters thick. In the pit, however, the sun created many additional melt layers over just a few days. In the afternoon, temperatures are often approaching the melting point and we expect there to be melting later this season (hopefully after we have left).

After visiting the pit it was time for a trip on Trevors Renland sightseeing train to visit some locations on the ice cap with splendid views to adjacent mountains and glaciers. What a beautiful trip!

Weather: Sunny and calm conditions. Temperatures -7°C to 0°C, wind dropping from 6 m/s to 1 m/s from N.

Jan in front of impressive ice covered mountain ‘out there’ on the other side.

Renland FL, Anders