Ice Cores from South Island, New Zealand
Ice Cores from South Island, New Zealand
Paul Meyewski and Andrei Kurbatov, UMaine
Uwe Morgenstern, Institute of Geology and Nuclear Sciences, Wellington, New Zealand
October 27, 2003 to November 17, 2003
Paul and Andrei are collecting ice cores from the Tasman Glacier, South Island New Zealand. These cores will help extend our knowledge of the Southern Hemisphere climate record.
Sunday November 2, 2003
Arrived Mt. Cook Village yesterday late.
Weather has socked in and will probably prevent us from flying until Tuesday. Rearranging our gear and enjoying the down time.
Best to all. Cheers Paul
Monday November 3, 2003
click on photo to see full size
We took a walk today to the edge of Hooker Glacier (see pix).
Andrei and I are standing in front of the lake formed at the edge of Hooker. Mt. Cook in the background. Took our gear to the airport to discuss number of flights needed. Weather has been very stormy so far but hoping for a window tomorrow.
Best to all. Cheers Paul
Tuesday November 4, 2003
Just a short message from the team.
The weather cleared and we were able to fly up to the drill site. We are camped on the Tasman Glacier and have managed to set up all of the equipment including the drill. We will begin the drilling the ice cores tomorrow.
Cheers, Paul
Tuesday November 11, 2003
The team reports that all is well, except the weather has been a bit too warm for drilling. They are hoping that the temperature will cool down in the next day or two so that they can finish their work on time.
Tuesday November 18, 2003
Well it was a productive, if somewhat snowy field trip. We returned to Maine late last night. The field site on Tasman Glacier was particularly good, and we are already planning a return trip, probably during the southern hemisphere fall or winter.
In the week we were at the drill site, it snowed almost a meter, and we spent a lot of time just waiting on the weather to clear. A glacier is a dangerous place to be when you can’t see where you are going. We brought back many photos. Here is a selection you might enjoy.
click on photo to see full size
