Setting up seismometers in a beautiful blue ice field
Alain and the Princess Elisabeth team continue to provide logistical support to Denis Lombardi as the sets up seismometers across the Sør Rondane Mountains as part of the GIANT-LISSA project being undertaken by the Royal Observatory of Belgium. In this gallery, Denis and the team head up to a blue ice field 70 km away from the station.
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This year we had to install five seismometers that will take a minimum of one year of measurements. Our knowledge of the mountainous terrain helped Denis Lombardi find ideal locations to set up the seismometers, and also saved him a lot of time. Here we're standing on one of the last nunataks as you head from the coast towards the South Pole.
© International Polar Foundation
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Nice view of the nunatak at an altitude of 2,650 metres above sea level!
© International Polar Foundation
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Kristof feeling at home in the cabin of the Prinoth.
© International Polar Foundation
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Here we are installing a seismometer in a blue ice field on the plateau. Kristof and GG take over from Alain as the team cuts through the hard, blue ice.
© International Polar Foundation
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A cup of hot coffee at 8 pm to get a bit more energy se we can finish the work.
© International Polar Foundation
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For the PEACE project the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich) is working on, we had to install an Argos antenna in order to be able to download data in real time from a climate station on the Antarctic Plateau.
© International Polar Foundation
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Simon downloading data from the climate station.
© International Polar Foundation
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The wind on the plateau creates many sastrugi. These hard waves in the ice carved by the wind feel like you're getting attacked by a shark when you ride over them in a skidoo.
© International Polar Foundation
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Less than 5 km from the site, huge crevasses formed by the wind pervaded the blue ice, slowing our progress.
© International Polar Foundation
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82 km from the station we set up camp with our mobile units, including a bedroom container to save time and keep the team safe from katabatic winds.
© International Polar Foundation
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A box protetcs the seismometer, which has been set up on top of the ice.
© International Polar Foundation
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Fixing the solar panels next to the battery box.
© International Polar Foundation
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The head of the ice corer has a cutter that often needs to be sharpened so it can cut and extract ice.
© International Polar Foundation
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Kristof and GG drill ice samples for a group of German scientists to help them prepare a future campaign.
© International Polar Foundation
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Here we are, working in the middle of nowhere. The sunset is amazing and the wind is calm.
© International Polar Foundation
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9 pm and time for a family picture!
© International Polar Foundation
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After we finish, we still have to drive 70 km downhill back to the station.
© International Polar Foundation
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Approaching the first mountain and the Wideroerfjellet, the highest summit in the mountains in this region.
© International Polar Foundation
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We have to turn left along the windscoop in order to head down the hill towards the station.
© International Polar Foundation
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We finally arrived at the Princess Elisabeth Station at midnight.
© International Polar Foundation
