“dingle day”! Looks quite warm.How does the temperature vary during 24 hours?Would you expect to find similar microbe communities in/on antarctic snow/ice as in central Greenland?
Thanks for following the SLE Programme. @1 Gareth – Temperature range through the day (recent & with sun) has been up to a 10C shift with nights around -22C and day max in the region of -12C. However, just 15 knots of wind gives a wind chill down to -35C.
Re the microbes, there may well be similar species throughout the Earth’s cryosphere, but we really know so little about them, this project will help us better understand the biogeography of cold-loving bacteria.
Hahaha I know it has a reason, but i find this so adorable! I love how instead of relaxing while they fix the drilling problem, they instantly find any pretext to go do more science.
“Hmm, no drilling today… want to walk a kilometre to sample that snow over there?”
“YES.”
Gooo Ellsworth Expedition! Your inexhaustible curiosity inspires me 🙂
Dear Emily,
There is indeed method to our apparent madness – in order to know what is present at the site on the surface, we need to ensure that nothing has entered the snow from the camp or either logistic route (aeroplanes and tractor trains). The further we can get from the camp to do this, the better (we are also sampling at the camp too)!
David (Ellsworth Microbiologist)
Hi, I think the whole project is fascinating and well done for the progress so far!
I have a question about the drilling… If you are checking the snow surrounding the site in order to be assured that the drilling does not contaminate the lake samples when you get them, is there a possibility of bacteria and microbes existing within the ice itself? As you drill down is there not a possibility that the drilling and melting of the core will release these into the drillhole resulting in contamination of the lake samples?
Thanks.
“dingle day”! Looks quite warm.How does the temperature vary during 24 hours?Would you expect to find similar microbe communities in/on antarctic snow/ice as in central Greenland?
Thanks for following the SLE Programme. @1 Gareth – Temperature range through the day (recent & with sun) has been up to a 10C shift with nights around -22C and day max in the region of -12C. However, just 15 knots of wind gives a wind chill down to -35C.
Re the microbes, there may well be similar species throughout the Earth’s cryosphere, but we really know so little about them, this project will help us better understand the biogeography of cold-loving bacteria.
Hahaha I know it has a reason, but i find this so adorable! I love how instead of relaxing while they fix the drilling problem, they instantly find any pretext to go do more science.
“Hmm, no drilling today… want to walk a kilometre to sample that snow over there?”
“YES.”
Gooo Ellsworth Expedition! Your inexhaustible curiosity inspires me 🙂
Dear Emily,
There is indeed method to our apparent madness – in order to know what is present at the site on the surface, we need to ensure that nothing has entered the snow from the camp or either logistic route (aeroplanes and tractor trains). The further we can get from the camp to do this, the better (we are also sampling at the camp too)!
David (Ellsworth Microbiologist)
Hi, I think the whole project is fascinating and well done for the progress so far!
I have a question about the drilling… If you are checking the snow surrounding the site in order to be assured that the drilling does not contaminate the lake samples when you get them, is there a possibility of bacteria and microbes existing within the ice itself? As you drill down is there not a possibility that the drilling and melting of the core will release these into the drillhole resulting in contamination of the lake samples?
Thanks.