Daily Reports

Position: 87° 45.3' N, 63° 34' W, temperature - 35° C, air pressure 1026 hPa, wind 4 knots from NW. Ice drift 0.1 knots towards SSW. Shooting seismic reflection all day. Put up the inner tent and fired up the multi-fuel stove. Improved the heat box for the hydraulic oil reservoir and put in a fan heater

Position: 87° 46.4' N, 63° 58' W, temperature below - 40° C, air pressure 1024 hPa, wind 3 knots from the NNW. Ice drift 0.1 knots towards the south. Disassembled the air gun, but our inventory of firing seals are exhausted so the O-ring was flipped over and re-used. Back in the water, the gun was still leaking air, but giving good data and shooting continued. Audun replaced the battery for the data logger of the radiation flux measurements, and also the broken wind cross of the weather station.

Position: 87° 47.4' N, 64° 42' W, temperature - 36° C, air pressure 1023 hPa, wind10 knots from the southeast. Ice drift 0.1 due east. Shooting seismic reflection all day. Cleared a place for the tent which for now will be an addition to our present work space. This was a cold day and we had to take the tent floor inside the cabin to heat it before it was laid out. The tent was difficult to unpack, but doable. We connected to our air supply and the air filled support arches inflated nicely, but the structure folded after a few minutes from loss of air pressure.

Position: 87° 47.5' N, 66° 41' W, temperature - 35° C, air pressure 1025 hPa, wind 8 knots from south. Ice drift 0.2 due east. Shooting seismic reflection all day. Audun repaired the multi-fuel oven. Burned garbage from the packing material of the cargo. We burn all trash regularly and collect metal cans and glass in a bag for back-haul to shore in due time.

Position: 87° 47.3' N, 69° 16' W, temperature - 34° C, air pressure 1026 hPa, wind 7 knots from the south. Ice drift 0.3 knots towards the east. Shooting seismic reflection all day. Unpacked some of the received cargo. The multi-fuel oven had the top deformed, but seems repairable. Keeping the hydro hole from freezing is a problem as venting of the air gun creates a turnover every few minutes and introduce new cold water. A 2 kW heat stick in the water or a fan heater on top makes no visible impact. The ice chisel is the only way out.

Position: 87° 46.8' N, 71° 22' W, temperature - 34° C, air pressure 1032 hPa, wind 4 knots from the W. Ice drift 0.2 knots towards the east. Acquiring seismic reflection data all day. Located the last item, a tent in an ice rubble field about 400 meter before the start of the drop zone. Moved the remainder of the items from the drop zone to camp. The Christmas eve dinner was a cold buffet as we were too tired to arrange anything traditional.

Position: 87° 47.1' N, 72° 30' W, temperature - 34° C, air pressure 1033 hPa, wind 5 knots from the NNW. Ice drift 0.1 knots southeast. Acquiring seismic reflection data all day. Submitted situation report to MASC and FOH at 0354 GMT. First contact with the Orion plane of the 333 Sq. of the Norwegian Air Force at 0954 GMT about 45 minutes out. The plane arrived at 1040 GMT and made 8 passes dropping 16 pieces of cargo, all arriving within the proposed drop zone except two. We had located 15 pieces before midnight.

Position: 87° 48.7' N, 72° 54' W, temperature - 31° C, air pressure 1020 hPa, wind 14 knots from N. Ice drift 0.1 knots towards south. Shooting seismic reflection all day. Sent situation report to Maritime Air Support Centre, Andøya (MASC) and Forsvarets Operative Hovedkvarter (FOH) at 0240 GMT for expected supply mission. Air drop delayed by 24 hours - information received at 0530 GMT.

Position: 87° 49.7' N, 73° 01' W, temperature - 26° C, air pressure 1013 hPa, wind 13 knots from the NNE. Ice drift 0.1 knots towards the south. Shooting seismic reflection all day. Searched out for drop zone for the Orion flight coming tomorrow.

Position: 87° 51.1' N, 73° 13' W, temperature - 34° C, air pressure 1018 hPa, wind 7 knots from the ENE. Ice drift 0.0. Shooting seismic reflection all day. Re-adjusted the lift fan belt - a very cold job. The belt move to forward end of pulley, so an other adjustment is needed, but we need a warmer day. Audun moved another three loads of food from the old camp.