18 April 2009 A visit to the Lake E Physical Properties Lab and Dinner in Pevek (Video)

Here is another of my stories from the camp, a tour of the Physical Properties Measurement Laboratory. In the lab, we measure various properties of the sediment cores to collect an initial set of data from the cores as soon as the cores are brought back into camp. We measure temperature, diameter, seismic properties and magnetic properties. We were hoping to measure the density of the sediment, but the instrument used for this needs a small amount of radioactive material. Due to Russian import regulations, we were not able to transport this measuring instrument into the country. The measurement lab is run by Catalina Gebhardt and assisting her with her work is Carsten Meyer-Jacobs, both from Germany. Although both communicate in excellent English, they were a little hesitant to narrate the video, but I must acknowledge their help in teaching me about the work in the lab.

I was also surprised to learn that this was the very same equipment that was used to measure the sediment cores from the Antarctic ANDRILL project. (A similar drilling project near McMurdo station in Antarctica which was my first introduction to the possibility of a teacher joining a polar expedition.)

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As far as my day today, it was another day in Pevek. I spent some of the day working on editing this and some other videos that I will show you in the next few days. We also went out shopping. Several of the others here did not spend much time in Pevek on their arrival. They were determined to find some Pevek souvenirs. I went along for the walk even though I knew that there was not much to be found. After a few hours, many of the others came to the conclusion that our team learned earlier...there are not many options for souvenirs from Pevek!

We did have a pleasant coming away from the lake dinner at the one restaurant in Pevek, the Ramoshka

Following dinner, we learned that there was more to this building than a cinema.

Besides the cinema, the Iceberg also has a discotheque and upstairs billiards. So, here was an interesting observation... what is a night club to do in a location when half the year has a mid-night sun? Heavy black curtains cover the windows!

As you can imagine this was quite a change from life at Camp El'gygytgyn. Although the food was good and I had my first ice-cream in nearly a month, For those of you who really know me, it will come as no surprise that somehow I prefer many aspects of life back in camp.

T-Mart... staying warm in Siberia