The boxcorer is one of out most important sampling devices. It allows us
to get a large amount of undisturbed sediment in one cast. It's big, heavy
and looks mighty sturdy. However, it's not meant to break up rocks.




A couple of rocks were lodged where the spade meets the faceplace. In
other words, a part of the box was literally between a rock and a
hardplace. The force sheared the screws in half and pretty much ruined the
faceplate. Luckily, the box was intact and we have a few extra faceplates.
This slowed us down a little, but we have plenty to do in the meantime
while it's being repaired. And of course some comic relief was in order.





In other news, the scenery is still unreal.. it's like we're on the moon
with the ice and the mountains around us. The sea ice satellite images
show the ice front moving northward, so we may be in ice for the next one
or two stations. Cold but beautiful!!




Satellite infrared image of ice cover. Purple to blue is open
water, where yellows to red are increasing ice coverage. Ship's track and
position in red.