Sediment from subglacial Lake Whillans, including mud, clay and rocks, makes its first supraglacial appearance on the multicorer instrument retrieved from the borehole. Reed Scherer (right) speeds the tray of sediment to the lab as Alex Michaud (center) and Ross Powell stabilize the multicorer above the borehole. The multicorer was successfully deployed to the bottom of Lake Whillans three times on January 30, providing abundant samples for chemical, physical and biological analysis.

Ross Powell (left) and Reed Scherer scrape sediment off of the multicorer before lowering the device into the sediment lab at the drill site.

Reed Scherer removes a sediment core from the multicorer at subglacial Lake Whillans.

Fresh out of the borehole, the mud-covered multicorer is craned to the sediment lab beneath the austral sky.

Reed Scherer removes a sediment core from the borer.

Marine technician and crane operator Jeremy Lucke displaying his tribal enthusiasm for the successful capture of sediment from subglacial Lake Whillans.

 

See more DISCOVER Antarctica dispatches: 

U.S. Team Penetrates Subglacial Lake Whillans

Scientists First Glimpse Interior of an Antarctic Subglacial Lake

First Evidence of Life in Antarctic Subglacial Lake