The five remaining science team members arrived in Christchurch over the past week in preparation for flying south. In addition to getting “kitted out” (receiving extreme cold weather gear from Antarctica New Zealand), the team members got to spend some time exploring the area, including visiting the International Antarctic Centre, where one can take a ride on a piston bully!
Eleven members of the SWAIS 2C team made it to the KIS drill site on Thursday! Those remaining at Scott Base celebrated Antarctica Day (December 1st, which commemorates the signing of the Antarctic Treaty) by visiting Vince’s Cross. Here in New Zealand, four of the science party members were kitted out yesterday (got all of our cold weather gear) and our flight south is scheduled for 9am on Monday morning.
While waiting for a weather window to fly to the KIS drill site, some members of the SWAIS 2C took the chance to see pressure ridges where the land meets the frozen ocean outside of Scott Base, with the tour led by Antarctica New Zealand’s Catherine Kircher.
Members of the SWAIS 2C on-ice science team completed their Antarctic survival training in preparation for deployment to the deep field (KIS drill site)!
The traverse team arrived at our Kamb Ice Stream site on 23 November. The traverse team will set up the camp and make the runway in preparation for the drillers and our first scientist to head to the site early next week!
SWAIS2C team members and members of the ICDP support group at the ICDP Sample and Data Management Workshop in Potsdam (GER) at the GFZ end of September. The workshop is part of the preparations for the drilling season on the Ross Ice Shelf during the upcoming summer season in Antarctica.
