The SUBGLACIOR team in front of the surface equipment
© © C. Dangoisse, European Space Agency / IPEV
The SUBGLACIOR probe in front of the EPICA drilling tent: a nice baby of 11-m length !
© © J. Chappellaz, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
The SUBGLACIOR test site on the Concordia horizon
© © J. Chappellaz, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
The surface equipment to handle the drilling fluid
© © J. Chappellaz, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
Different ways of having fun with a core without use
© © J. Chappellaz, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
One needs to be "multi-tasking" in Antarctica... The day of my birthday, the menu included a chain saw !
© © E. Lefebvre, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
The SUBGLACIOR probe ready to take its first very fresh bath
© © J. Chappellaz, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
Quite some equipment inside the probe ! Here, the electronics of the laser spectrometer
© © J. Chappellaz, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
Assembly of the surface equipment
© J. Chappellaz, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
Eric Lefebvre replaces a part in one of the electronic cards
© J. Chappellaz, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
Luc Piard, Philippe Possenti and Roberto Grilli are busy mounting the probe
© J. Chappellaz, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
The SUBGLACIOR probe is transported for the first time toward the test site
© J. Chappellaz, CNRS/LGGE/IPEV
Location : At Concordia Station, Antarctica (75°06'S - 123°20'E, altitude 3230 m).
Mean annual temperature : -53 to -54°C
Team members 2016-2017 : Olivier Alemany (LGGE, Fr.), Michel Calzas (DT-INSU, FR.), Jérôme Chappellaz (LGGE, Fr.), Roberto Grilli (LGGE, FR.), Christophe Guillerm (DT-INSU, Fr.), Eric Lefebvre (LGGE, Fr.), Luc Piard (LGGE, Fr), Philippe Possenti (LGGE, Fr.), Grégory Teste (LGGE, Fr.), and logistic personnels of IPEV and of ENEA.
Activities : it was the very first field test of the famous SUBGLACIOR probe, on which our team works since 2012. Numerous innovative technological solutions are used in this probe. Therefore most of the work consisted, in addition to making the first complete build-up of the probe on site, to evaluate the performances of the different technological solutions. The results are globally quite excellent, as about three quarters of the technological solutions proved to work properly. There remains a small quarter on which we still need to work in order to obtain an optimal behaviour of the probe.
My work in the field : in addition to the daily relationship with the head of the station and with the logistics in order to see an optimal functioning for the project, I contributed to different activities, from the mounting of the probe to its operation, and of course to strategic decisions in order to make the project a success.
