At this time the experiment is moving pretty well. All of the seismometers are in place and ready to go. Omar Marcillio is trouble shooting any of the stations that need attention.
The drillers, Jay Kyne, Matt Zimmerer, and Terry Gacke, have been drilling holes around the summit area in preperation for the blasts that will take place in the next week or so. We have discovered that the blasts for the long line, the seismometers that are positioned across the island, did not all go as well as expected. Two of the three blasts did not put enough energy in the ground mostly due to the fact that there was too much snow around the explosives and not enough ice. Dr. Zandomeneghi and Tim Burton are figuring out if we have enough explosives to try those two blasts again. They are also scouting out sites to drill and blast on the summit. We need about five more blast sites up here. Galen Kaip, our blaster and seismologist, has been in charge of the three blasts for the long line and is helping to prepare things for the blasts at the summit.
Dr. Clive Oppenheimer has been monitoring the gases from the crater and making measurements on the lava lake. He has some very interesting data and photos of the lake taken with a thermalimaging camera.
He has pointed out some of the affects of the sulfur and other compounds found in the fumes from the volcano. As you look at the rock around the crater you can see where the fumes have spent more time. The ground is covered with yellow sulfur.
Also at the rim is Marianne Okal. She is a LidarMeasuring system that detects and locates objects using light from a laser. specialist. The Liadar system will be used to measure the movement of the lava lake. The lake moves up and down in the inner crater. We would like to monitor how much and how often this movement is. Patterns in the lake movement may give some insight of the overall activity of the volcano.
I have saved the most important person for the last. Anna Barford is a graduate student from Sheffield University in England. She is also our camp cook, and is doing a fantastic job of keeping everyone well fed and happy! The tamales for dinner last night were wonderful! After a long hard and cold day of working in the field, it is very nice to come home to a good hot meal.
Over the last few days I have been able to get up to the crater and spend some time looking around. The views are magnificent! The crater is massive, steep and pretty deep! Some of the bombs that are sitting around the rim are very impressive!
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