NEWS Story | 24 July - 15 August 2022, greenland

EastGRIP - Ice Core Drilling Camp - Greenland

GETTY IMAGES

East Greenland Ice-core Project (EastGRIP) is an international science station and drilling camp on the Greenlandic ice sheet (76N 36W), led by the University of Copenhagen, with the logistics coordinated by the Danish Centre for Ice and Climate. The Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) is the largest ice stream in Greenland. It begins at the central ice divide and cuts straight through the ice sheet in a wedge shape to feed into the ocean through three large ice streams (Nioghalvfjerds isstrømmen, Zachariae isbræ and Storstrømmen). The EastGRIP location is near the beginning of this ice stream.
The team at EastGRIP aims to drill through 2650 meters of ice dating back 120,000 years to glean new knowledge of ice-sheet dynamics and how fast-flowing ice streams will contribute to sea-level rise. The resulting ice core will also create a new record of past climatic and atmospheric conditions from the northeastern part of the Greenland Ice Sheet, informing our understanding of how it may respond to a changing climate.
This summer marked the first fieldwork season since 2019 after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 field seasons. After two months of preparation this spring, the drilling operation started on July 7th and ended on August 6th, yielding a new 300-meter core at a maximum depth of 2418.23 meters. That puts them under 250 meters from their target depth, which the team aims to achieve next year.
The EastGRIP camp's facilities, especially its ski way, also attract other scientific research, which uses the camp as an airport or logistics hub for other projects.
Client - GETTY IMAGES
Photography - Lukasz Larsson Warzecha
Assignment Editors - Pancho Bernasconi, Jay Davies
Special Thanks - Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
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KANGERLUSSUAQ, GREENLAND - JULY 25:
Sunrise over Kangerlussuaq, Greenland's central air transport hub and Greenland's largest commercial airport site, formerly known as Bluie West-8 and then Sondrestrom Air Base in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, on July 25, 2022. Kangerlussuaq is the logistics hub for all Greenland ice-sheet research, including the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), with former U.S. military barracks used as the Kangerlussuaq International Science Support facility.


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KANGERLUSSUAQ, GREENLAND - JULY 24:
The crew of 'skier' 21094 LC-130 Hercules plane, assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing, performs daily pre-flight ground checks while standing on the apron of the Kangerlussuaq International Airport, in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, on July 24, 2022.


KANGERLUSSUAQ, GREENLAND - JULY 26:
Niels Schøtt Hvidberg, a 25-year-old field assistant with the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), looks through a window of an LC-130 Hercules plane assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing during take-off from the Kangerlussuaq heading to EastGRIP camp, in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, on July 26, 2022.


KANGERLUSSUAQ, GREENLAND - JULY 25:
A 'skier' LC-130 Hercules plane, assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing, takes off from a runway at the Kangerlussuaq International Airport in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, on July 25, 2022. The LC-130 is the largest ski aircraft in the world, capable of landing on snow and ice and conducting resupply missions, both in Antarctica during Northern Hemisphere winter and Greenland during the Northern Hemisphere summer months. The ski-equipped LC-130 is provided as in-kind support to EastGRIP by U.S. National Science Foundation.

An aerial view of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) camp at midnight looking north at EastGRIP camp, Greenland, on July 30, 2022. EastGRIP is an international science station on the Greenland ice sheet, the second-largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice cap.
EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 27: Ice cores drilled during the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) 2022 field season from ca. 2300-2400 meters in depth - and around 65,000 years old - lie in aluminium trays in the buffer ice core storage waiting to be processed at the science trench at EastGRIP camp, Greenland, on July 27, 2022.
EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 28:
Søren Børsting and Johannes Lohmann of the drill team at East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) walk down a tunnel entrance to the drill and science trench at EastGRIP camp on July 28, 2022.
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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 29:
Inside the drillers' trench at East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) camp on July 29, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 29:
Barbara Seth of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) operates the ice core drill from the inside of the drillers' cabin at EastGRIP camp on July 29, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 29:
Barbara Seth and Martin Leonhard of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) sit in the drillers' cabin inside the drill trench at EastGRIP camp on July 29, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 29:
Barbara Seth of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) operates the ice core drill from the inside of the drillers' cabin at EastGRIP camp on July 29, 2022.
  • EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 3: The drill team at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) lift the drill rig with a freshly drilled ice core visible in the drill trench at EastGRIP camp on August 3, 2022.
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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 6:
Drillers Søren Børsting, Johannes Lohmann and Iben Koldtoft with the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) lower the drill rig with in the drill trench at EastGRIP camp on August 6, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 7:
Iben Koldtoft, a logistics coordinator and driller at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) poses for a portrait at EastGRIP camp on August 7, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 3:
Søren Børsting, a drill coordinator and mechanic, works inside the driller workshop cabin at EastGRIP camp on August 3, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 7:
Drillers Iben Koldtoft and Johannes Lohmann with the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) lift the drill rig with a freshly drilled ice core in the drill trench at EastGRIP camp on August 7, 2022.
EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 31:
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This image was created using multiple exposures in camera to control lighting)
An ice core from a depth of 2215 meters with a prominent NAAZ II (North Atlantic Ash Zone) layer of volcanic ash, deposited ca. 55,400 years ago during a volcanic eruption in Thórsmörk, southern Iceland, is illuminated at East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) camp on July 31, 2022.
EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 27:
Sonja Wahl and Nico Stoll of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) work on a freshly recovered ice core at EastGRIP camp on July 27, 2022.
  • EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 29: Sonja Wahl and Nico Stoll of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) carry a newly logged ice core in the ice core buffer storage area, part of underground drilling, logging and science facilities at EastGRIP camp, on July 29, 2022.
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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 27:
Sonja Wahl and Nico Stoll of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) work on a freshly recovered ice core at EastGRIP camp on July 27, 2022. First, they must align the top of the ice core to the bottom of the last piece. The two core pieces must fit precisely together to eliminate the possibility of an ice core missing. The length of the ice core is then measured. Finally, the sum of all these measured core lengths gives the total length of the ice core. EastGRIP is an international science station on the Greenland ice sheet, the second-largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice cap.


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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 27:
Nico Stoll of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) cuts a freshly recovered ice core at EastGRIP camp on July 27, 2022.
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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 28:
Scientists at work in the underground science trench at EastGRIP camp on July 28, 2022.


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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 28:
Sepp Kipfstuhl of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) carefully cleans the plane surface of the ice core slab, which later will be cut into pieces 2, 3 and 4, using a microtome knife before it is transported to the line scanner that records the visual layers in the core at EastGRIP camp on July 28, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 28:
A 1.65 meter-long ice core section is cut on a horizontal Swiss saw at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) camp on July 28, 2022. During logging, the core is first cut in runs, then marked in sections called bags. Each bag is 0.55 m, and three bags, i.e. 1.65 m, constitute a run. Each run is cut parallel to the core axis into five segments.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 28:
Scientists at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) work in the underground science trench at EastGRIP camp on July 28, 2022.

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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 28:
Nico Stoll carefully cleans the plane surface of the ice core slab, which later will be cut into pieces 2, 3 and 4, using a microtome knife before it is transported to the line scanner that records the visual layers in the core at EastGRIP camp on July 28, 2022.


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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 29:
Scientists with the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) work with a line scanner in the foreground in the underground science trench at EastGRIP camp on July 29, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 28:
Sonja Wahl of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) carefully places ice core pieces in their corresponding bags at the EastGRIP camp on July 28, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 28:
Scientists with the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) walk past drilling equipment stacked in the tunnel between the science and drill trench at EastGRIP camp on July 28, 2022.


  • EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 12: Frederik Bugge Nielsen, a camp chef with the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), fries scallops and fried rice noodles at the EastGRIP camp on August 12, 2022.
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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 5:
Frederik Bugge Nielsen, camp chef for the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), collects food from the camp's permanent freezer food storage facility at the EastGRIP camp on August 5, 2022. With the annual average temperature around -28 degrees Celsius, there's no problem with storing frozen food.

  • EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 10: Early morning at one of the weather ports, the primary accommodation for everyone at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) camp, on August 10, 2022.
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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 10:
The East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) camp's main dome structure with satellite internet communications dish in a snowstorm at EastGRIP camp on August 10, 2022. The main dome serves as a mess, kitchen, lounge, main office area and air-control tower. It also contains toilets, a shower bay, and a 'service floor' with laundry facilities.

EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 29:
Sonja Wahl of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) celebrates her 30th birthday with a homemade cake among other camp crew inside the main dome at EastGRIP camp on July 29, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 29:
Scientists with the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) enjoy the midnight light at the main dome's lounge area at EastGRIP camp on July 29, 2022. The main dome serves as a mess, kitchen, lounge, main office area and air control tower. It also contains toilets, a shower bay, and a 'service floor' with laundry facilities.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 30:
Members of the drilling team at East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) - from left to right: Martin Leonhard, Barbara Seth, Søren Børsting and Johannes Lohmann - enjoy a game of foosball during a Saturday night party inside the main dome lounge area at EastGRIP camp on July 30, 2022.

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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 11:
Thin sections cut from an ice core from a depth of 2418 meters are photographed between cross-polarizer sheets at EastGRIP camp on August 11, 2022. Polarized light microscopy is used to measure crystal orientation and grain size/shape. EastGRIP is an international science station on the Greenland ice sheet, the second-largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice cap.

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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 12:
Large hoar crystals on the ceiling of the ice core buffer storage area at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) camp, Greenland, on August 12, 2022.


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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - JULY 31:
A large hoar crystal, collected at the beginning of the season from the ceiling of the drill trench at East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), photographed between cross polariser sheets, a technique used to identify properties of individual crystals within the ice sample, at EastGRIP camp, Greenland, on July 31, 2022.

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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 8:
Heavy machinery required to manage the snow around the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) site and groom its 3 km ski-way is parked outside the mechanic's garage tent at EastGRIP camp on August 8, 2022.

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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 13:
Diesel Mechanic Sverrir Æ. Hilmarsson with the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) grooms the ski way landing strip with a PistenBully snow groomer in preparation for Hercules 'skier' planes scheduled for the following day at EastGRIP camp on August 13, 2022.


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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 15:
Martin Leonhard, a team member of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), clears snow using a snow blower from the entrance to the drill and science trench at EastGRIP camp on August 15, 2022.

  • EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 10: Field Leader of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), Prof Dorthe Dahl-Jenssen, poses for a portrait inside the underground tunnel system at EastGRIP camp on August 3, 2022.
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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 10:
Caroline Hornnes Pedersen, the camp doctor with the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), poses for a portrait inside her weather port tent at EastGRIP camp on August 10, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 14:
Portrait of seismologists with the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), Senior Scientist Coen Hofstede (AWI) and Prof Andreas Fichtner (ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), while sitting on a U.S. Air Force pallet stacked with scientific equipment at EastGRIP camp on August 14, 2022.


EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 4:
Sonja Wahl of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) poses for a portrait at the underground science trench at EastGRIP camp on August 4, 2022.


KANGERLUSSUAQ, GREENLAND - AUGUST 17:
Field Leader at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), Prof Jørgen Peder Steffensen, poses for a portrait inside the EastGRIP warehouse in Kangerlussuaq on August 17, 2022.

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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 13:
Field Leader Dorthe Dahl-Jensen and Logistic Coordinator Iben Koldtoft, Sepp Kipfstuhl and Julien Westhoff, organise scientific equipment on U.S. air force cargo pallets at EastGrip camp, Greenland, on August 13, 2022.


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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 13: Boxes of scientific equipment used by the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) are secured to a U.S. Air Force cargo pallet at EastGRIP camp, Greenland, on August 13, 2022.

EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 13:
Field Leader Dorthe Dahl-Jensen and Logistic Coordinator Iben Koldtoft among boxes of scientific equipment while packing U.S. air force cargo pallets at EastGrip camp, Greenland, on August 13, 2022.

EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 13:
Scientific equipment used by the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) sits on a U.S. Air Force cargo pallet ready for transport at the end of the field season at EastGRIP camp, Greenland, on August 13, 2022.
  • EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 14: Beyond a windsock, a 'skier' LC-130 Hercules plane assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing lands on a ski way at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) camp in Greenland to transport cargo and personnel from the camp on August 14, 2022. The LC-130 is the largest ski aircraft in the world, capable of landing on snow and ice and conducting resupply missions, both in Antarctica during Northern Hemisphere winter and Greenland during the Northern Hemisphere summer months. The ski-equipped LC-130 is provided as in-kind support to EastGRIP by U.S. National Science Foundation.
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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 14:
Sverrir Æ Hilmarsson and Martin Leonhard of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) load pallets with ice core boxes onto the cargo bay of a 'skier' LC-130 Hercules plane assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing at the EastGRIP camp on August 14, 2022.


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KANGERLUSSUAQ, GREENLAND - AUGUST 15:
A view from the cockpit onboard 'skier' LC-130 Hercules plane assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing, flying over the Greenland ice sheet, Greenland, after departing the EastGRIP site on August 15, 2022.

  • EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 8: Team members at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) Camp celebrate a successful end of drilling and science operations at EastGRIP camp on August 8, 2022.