Location:  Recovery Lake “D”, 84° 54’ S,  21° 16’ E
Weather: Fine, -18 C, wind 10 kts

Last night we extended our driving day until 8 pm as we were very anxious to get to our next science stop by today evening. After celebrating new year in a rather traditional manner last night, the team showed amazing strength and determination this morning, and the train rolled again on January 1, 2009, at 8 am.

The camp sites after the South Pole have all seemed very similar to us but now we had great expectations as this stop is on a lake! After a smooth day of driving, we arrived at “Lake D” in good time before dinner, and the preparations for the next day started immediately. We’re going to do snow pit studies, let the UAV fly, and make a one-day side traverse across the lake, and there’s no time to waste.

Lake D is the southernmost of a group of subglacial lakes called Recovery Lakes.  There are four, possibly five, subglacial lakes identified in satellite images that are located upstream from the Recovery Ice Stream which originates far inland in East Antarctica . We have an extensive science program for the next two weeks as we drive across all the Recovery Lakes, and we will stop on each one of them for various measurements and sample collection.  Tomorrow we will start our first side traverse to learn more about the size and volume of Lake D, and about the snow accumulation across the lake. To be continued soon.

Happy New Year!

Lake scenery from the terrace (left), and a typical scenery from the previous camp sites (right).  Photo: Anna Sinisalo