April 11, 2005

Funded by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs

Location: 64 10.370S, 56 15.532W

Temperature: -7 C
Wind Chill: -25 C
Port Wind: 5-8 knots

Take Two

Well, our geologists did not find any dinosaur bones in Herbert Sound as I had hoped. More importantly, they successfully sampled the core from the Holocene period. This morning, they were ready to drill more holes at the primary sites in the Weddell Sea off Seymour Island. Those are the very sites that we had to leave two nights ago because of the ice storm.

We sailed under baby blue skies. There was not a cloud to be found. The Palmer was gently breaking the thin ice crust. Sun was warming the faces of us gathered on the deck and taking that perfect photograph of seals and penguins with some of the most stunning landscapes in the background. As we were approaching the open waters, our hopes that we would not encounter the harsh conditions from two nights ago were met.

Seymour Island is a great place to get excited about geology. It is the only place in Antarctica where rocks range from over 100 million to 35 million years old are exposed. Some very interesting fossils have been found on the island: those of a 300 lb and 6 ft tall penguin, of a sea turtle the size of Volkswagen Beatle, and of a primitive Antarctic marsupial called Polydolops.

We reached the site in the late afternoon. No time was wasted. Our scientists and drillers alike are eager to complete this time what we were not able to do just 36 hours ago. The geologists will be looking at the core from the Eocene period, roughly 35 million and more years ago. As the night is falling, temperatures are sharply dropping, and ice pack is becoming thicker. We wish our drillers and Captain Mike who will be keeping the Palmer in place during the coring the best of luck.

Alex Injac

Seymour Island

Seymour Island Sunset

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