25 July 2010 Made it to NEEM!!

Today we were happy to finally make it to NEEM, even though it was for a short visit. After returning from breakfast, we all donned our cold weather gear once again and headed to the LC-130 to depart for NEEM. The flight to NEEM went up the coast over Disko Bay and the Jacobsavn Ice Field - the views of ocean, glacier, and icebergs were spectacular. Arriving at NEEM we had quite a welcoming committee. There is a documentary film crew filming at NEEM and they were there with their cameras recording our arrival. After our trip to NEEM being delayed by weather for two days we were warmly welcomed by everyone there. The iconic structure of the NEEM camp is their dome, which serves as the main living area for the camp. After a quick visit in the dome, complete with warm chocolate chip cookies, it was time to go see the drilling operation. We went down stairs and soon were greeted with the sight of the drill and the most recent ice core that had come up. In the most recent core there was a 5 cm piece of rock in the core, which indicates that they are getting very close to hitting bedrock. After seeing the drill, we headed into the science trench where they process the ice cores as well as doing some analysis on the ice. Our visit to NEEM was far too short and soon we were back on the plane headed back to Kangerlusuuaq. Our trip back was highlighted by the plane flying at very low altitude over Disko Bay - it felt like we could have reached out and touched the tips of the icebergs as we flew over them. What a great way to end a magnificent trip!!!