Kapitan Dranitsyn arrived yesterday, to great fanfare from people on both ships….. but apparently our ice floe was not as happy to have another ship around. Cracks emanating from the area of the ships headed out in multiple directions. Right through Met City, right through Remote Sensing city. One went between the Met Hut and its power hub, we are talking 20 cm from the building itself. That crack is only about 10cm across but who knows where it will go. If that opens it will be a major issue for most of the work at Met City. There was another crack under ARM’s radiation swingset; we had to move it to the side and later to figure out what to dowith it as far as re-deployment. Another crack over by the met tower. Fortunately outside of the guy lines, but inside of one of the former guy line anchor points; glad we didn’t move our guys back to that point. All of these cracks will be a challenge for the next crew; they will get a taste of the adventures we have had to endure for the last months out here at MOSAiC. These dynamics must be a characteristic of the new Arctic, and apparently the Arctic really wants us to get a good feel for them. And it is literally a feel. Today, again, the ice was moving underfoot. As we walked on a bridge over a crack, the crack was widening. At another area, we hoped from ice chunk to ice chunk to get across. Pretty crazy really, although the hops were short and the small pieces were pretty stable. It is actually a bit fun to introduce our colleagues to this environment, and to see their excitement over the whole experience. I’m sure it will be fun for them, and I look forward to heading out so they can have their space!
