SALSA Borehole Timeline Part 2 of 3: Sampling, Coring, and CTD Casting


December 30th: CTD, Camera, Filter Pump, Niskin, and Multicore CTD with Camera: After reaming (widening and smoothing) the borehole on Dec. 29th, the team met to discuss future sampling plans. We decided to send a second CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) cast to confirm the first cast’s results. To the Science Team’s delight, the CTD showed … Continue reading SALSA Borehole Timeline Part 2 of 3: Sampling, Coring, and CTD Casting

Meet Principal Investigator Berry Lyons


William Berry Lyons is a SALSA Geochemistry Principal Investigator and a Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University. Life and Background Born and raised in Florida, Berry calls himself “an unlikely Antarctic scientist.” After receiving his undergraduate degree in Geology, he went on to do a masters and doctorate in chemical oceanography … Continue reading Meet Principal Investigator Berry Lyons

SALSA Borehole Timeline Part 1 of 3: First Instruments Reach Lake Mercer


December 28th: Clump Weight, CTD, and Niskin Bottles – Clump Weight: The first instrument to enter Lake Mercer was the Deep SCINI clump weight equipped with cameras that fed live video to the surface. A packed room of observers watched the Clump Weight descend through the borehole and enter into Lake Mercer. The lake water … Continue reading SALSA Borehole Timeline Part 1 of 3: First Instruments Reach Lake Mercer

SALSA Celebrates Successful Mission at Mercer Subglacial Lake


Mission Success After science borehole operations began on December 28th, the SALSA team worked tirelessly around the clock to deploy science instruments and collect samples. After six days of sampling, we have enough material to truly change the way we view the Antarctic continent. In the words of Lead Scientist John Priscu: “A decade of … Continue reading SALSA Celebrates Successful Mission at Mercer Subglacial Lake

Geophysics Team Concludes Successful GPS Operations at Mercer Subglacial Lake


SALSA Field Report 1.1.19 Geophysics Update   On December 27th, the SALSA Geophysics team arrived at Mercer Subglacial Lake after concluding their science operations at Whillans Subglacial Lake. After two days on the road, the team took the morning of December 28th off to catch up on rest before unpacking their eight sleds and preparing their … Continue reading Geophysics Team Concludes Successful GPS Operations at Mercer Subglacial Lake

Science Team Drills Into Mercer Subglacial Lake


SALSA Field Report 12.28.2018 Science Team Update   After four days of troubleshooting components that sustained wear and tear from sitting through two winters on ice, the Drill Team began drilling the main borehole on the evening of December 23rd and reached the lake faster than expected at 10:30pm on December 26th with a borehole … Continue reading Science Team Drills Into Mercer Subglacial Lake