Daily Reports

Position: 88 11.6' N, 179 50' W, temperature - 5 C, air pressure 992 hPa, wind 27-32 knots from E. Ice drift 0.5 knots towards northeast. The water level has risen another 20 cm during the last 24 hours, total change is 45 cm. Increases have been stepwise and during periods of high winds. Snow drifts have formed upwind from the ice hangar with two about 70 meter long ridges (crests at 1.5 m above the ice) on either side and enlarged earlier smaller accumulations.

Position: 87 57.5' N, 175 57' E, temperature - 8 C, air pressure 997 hPa, wind 32 knots from E. Ice drift 0.8 knots towards NNE. Water depth is 3998 meter. Stopped shooting the air gun as the released air did not hit the hole in the ice, but deflected and accumulated somewhere else under the ice. Water level in the hangar has risen 10 cm since yesterday. Have to use the survival suits to be able to move around. Worked to free frozen-in parts of the hovercraft skirt now under water.

Position: 87 51.7' N, 173 59' E, temperature - 10 C, air pressure 1006 hPa, wind 6 knots from SE. Acquiring seismic data. Penetration about 2 km below the seabed over the abyssal plain using the 0.3 litre airgun fired every 25 meter. Audun worked on the bath room.

Position: 87 50.1' N, 173 35' E, temperature - 6 C, air pressure 1006 hPa, wind 3 knots from NE. Ice drift 0.1 knots towards NE. Two centimeter of new snow on the ground. Start up of seismic reflection measurements delayed by intermittent loss of the hydrophone signal. The problem was a defect power plug. At 1640 hours, we were finally acquiring seismic data. Put the generator on styrofoam pads to reduce the acoustic noise transmitted via the ice into the water. Checked radiation flux instrumentation and removed ice from the sun time sensor and snow from the IR-sensor.

Position: 87 47.9' N, 173 39' E, temperature - 8 C, air pressure 1007 hPa, wind 8 knots from ENE.
Contacted old hands with long industry experience from marine seismic surveys. Most suggestions pointed to the solenoid valve which controls air flow, but Einar Gjestrum who last worked with Bolt airguns for GECO about 30 years ago was more specific. It is "O-ring; part number 640", he said, and that was really the problem. When started cold, the belt driven hydraulic

Position: 87 43.9' N, 174 43' E, temperature - 13 C, air pressure 1003 hPa, wind 20 knots from NE. Ice drift 0.3 knots towards NW.
Data logging system running. Discovered hydraulic pump for driving the compressor and winch had blow a seal and hydraulic oil been routed into the main engine. Prepared spare belt driven external pump. When pressure was put on the Bolt PAR airgun before putting in the water, the gun went into auto-fire and would not close. The gun was completely dismantled and all visible o-rings were changed. On the next try, the gun still went into auto fire.

Position: 87 31.5' N, 175 26' E, temperature - 8 C, air pressure 990 hPa, wind22 knots from E. Drifting snow. Ice drift 0.4 knots towards NNE. Wind speeds 30-33 knots in the afternoon and evening. Started preparations for seismic reflection measurements. The compressor needs to be pre-heated and an insulated enclosure had to be made. Worked on getting the data logging system up and had support from Bergen via Iridium to tackle computer communications port allocation issues. Audun worked all day securing the tarp over the ice hangar.

Position: 87 25.9' N, 173 44' E, temperature - 10 C, air pressure 1004 hPa, wind 15 knots from SE. Ice drift 0.4 knots towards NE. Finished the last wall of the bath room and with that all ice hall construction work is finished. Drifting snow and 15-20 knot winds all day. Checked Met.no radiation flux instruments for ice twice during the day.

Position: 87 25.3' N, 171 49' E, temperature - 7 C, air pressure 1007 hPa, wind 7 knots from WSW. Worked all day securing the tarp. Checked radiation flux instruments twice and removed ice.

Position: 87 26.5' N, 171 36' E, temperature - 8 C, air pressure 1030 hPa, wind 4 knots from S. Worked on putting a tarp over the 80 square meter main hangar. We were pleased with the result. Checked radiation flux instruments for ice twice.
Our drift