Location : At Concordia Station, Antarctica (75°06’S – 123°20’E, altitude 3230 m) and at the LOCK-IN site situated 136 km away from Concordia (74°08’S – 126°10’E, altitude 3200 m).
Mean annual temperature : -53 to -54°C
Team members 2011-2012 : At the LOCK-IN site : Jérôme Chappellaz (LGGE, Fr.), David Colin (IPEV, Fr.), Patricia Martinerie (IPEV, Fr.), Philippe Possenti (LGGE, Fr.). At Concordia : Olivier Alemany (LGGE, Fr.), Jérôme Chappellaz (LGGE, Fr.), Eric Lefebvre (LGGE, Fr.), Philippe Possenti (LGGE, Fr.), and logistic personnels of IPEV and of ENEA.
Activities : At Concordia, we revisited the casing installed during the previous year, in anticipation of the deployment of our SUBGLACIOR probe. A defect at the bottom of the casing required us to fully re-do its machining and setting-up in the borehole. At the LOCK-IN site, we aimed at studying the mechanical transformation of snow/firn into ice under climatic conditions characterized by a similar temperature than at Concordia, but with a much larger accumulation rate. This is needed in order to better understand the gas diffusion and trapping mechanisms in ice. We relied on the traverse logistical means of IPEV to install our small autonomous camp on site, able to handle our small team of 4 people for 2 weeks of work.
My work in the field : I was in charge of the firn air pumping experiment at the LOCK-IN site, using a SARA laser spectrometer as well as a LiCor instrument. This allowed for a real-time quality check of the samples. But also to obtained much valuable scientific results straight in the field. At Concordia, I took part to the work on the SUBGLACIOR casing.
