Dale Andersen’s Astrobiology Antarctic Status Report: 22 November 2022: Aurkjosen Cirque

Keith,

Denis and Andre just returned from a hike to the moraine located several hundred meters above the Aurkjosen Cirque, having redeployed the temperature loggers used to monitor temperature and humidity a meter above ground level and with sensors in the permafrost down to the ice table 60 cm or so below the surface.

Miles and I returned to camp a few minutes earliler having set up and started the hole melter which is now making a dive hole for the ROV in the deepest area of Untersee (the “oxic, North basin” at ~165 m depth). Once that is done in a day or two we will deploy the ROV for a dive to explore and sample the microbial communities found there.

Our weather continues to be ok. It started warm and clear this morning with slippery ice, but later in the afternoon it clouded up, the ice cooled and is “sticky” once again making it much easier to walk. If we are lucky we will have another quiet night with little or no wind to rattle our tents!

Cheers
Dale