Field crew change on Friday
There’s been a flurry of activity this last two days. The albedo team (Joe and Johan) have been busy sampling surface ice and flying the quadcopter, Jim has been aerosol sampling, and Liane, Steffi, Jenine, Chris and Ewa have been busy sampling particulates and microbes. The last 24 hours has seen them short on sleep as they have conducted diurnal productivity and cell counting. I sense that the team are trying to fit in as much as they can before Friday, when there is a crew change and a dash to the snowline planned. Four weeks on the ice takes it’s toil, and the relief about finally going home will be tinged with a panic to do as much sampling as is possible, and this against a backdrop of becoming just that little bit more tired each day. I imagine that the big night of celebration back in Kangerlussuaq, following a first shower in ages, will result in folk gently falling asleep in their chairs late evening as they warm through.
Marion reports that she is processing Dash 1 samples in Kanger and has some pretty exciting results already. We can’t report them here I’m sorry, because we need to scrutinise them, write them up and submit them for peer review before we can report them. What the web site and tweets over the coming months. We aim to get as much of the exciting material out as quickly as we can.
Personal tents have been repitched and the team are kindly going to move the lab and mess tents for us. Jenine will be the sole remainer, as Alex A, Alex H, Andrew and I go in for the last two weeks.
Back in Bristol, Jon Hawkings is kindly taking over as our communications maestro. He’s better than me at most things, and this is something else he’ll be better that me at for sure. Getting older and more stuck in your ways is a bugger.
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Black and Bloom 