Landing Bluff, Saturday, 8th December 2001
We awoke early to prepare for the numerous incoming loads of gear from the ship. The thermometer recorded a minimum of -15 degrees last night. Margie and I climbed up the Bluff to visit the GPS monitoring station, passing many large crystals of feldspar and quartz shattered off the granite outcrop. In amongst these were numerous lichens and small mosses. The GPS site is right at the summit of the bluff, which even being only 113m above sea-level seemed like a lot more, with such an extensive view. Cloud hung lazily around the edge of the ice shelf and to the East. The GPS site consists of a choke-ring antenna bolted to a crustal motion monitoring mark. The antenna is connected to a receiver in a box which also contains the power controller (PCON), Data Storage and Communications Controller (DSCC) which is basically a 440MB flash card with a boot sector and DOS, a satellite phone, batteries and other peripherals. The whole system is powered by 6 solar panels facing north. The most distinctive feature of the site is the large white speherical radome for the satellite phone antenna. This can be seen from some distance away. The whole setup is designed to transfer GPS data by satellite phone link back to RSES in Canberra, to monitor the post glacial isostatic rebound. The system was supposed to call Canberra after October 15th but hadn't done so at this stage. I found the batteries to be fully charged, the PCON ticking, but the GPS was not operating as it should have been. I took out the 440MB flash card to examine later. We had to make a move back as the rest of the day was devoted to unloading choppers and organising loads for the next move to Beaver Lake. The remainder of the party and Charlton arrived. The weather became excellent in the afternoon and some of the Loewe Massif group loaded up and flew off across the Amery Ice Shelf only to turn back because of poor visibility (cloud) on the Massif. I returned with Tom up to the site after extracting files of the DSCC and restarted the system, testing the phone which worked OK. I restarted the GPS before spending a while enjoying the astounding late afternoon panoramic view. The low sun casting all the visibile features in sharp relief. The waether was perfect, not a breath of wind even. The Russians had laid out "Geoglyphs" of names, the hammer and sickle nearby with the Quartz pebbles to artistic effect. We polished off a Smirnoff Vodka Blue 1.125L to toast the Russian's hospitality (in absentia), thanking them for leaving such a comfortable depot and to Gerald who was very cherful and helpful, even to the extent of trying (albeit unsuccessfully) to start up the tank. The forecast for the next day was grim, strangely enough.
Landing Bluff (LDBF) Technical Inspection
Landing Bluff (Druzhnaya IV Station) S 69°44'48" E 73°42'35"
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