As part of our highlight of SES adventures at sea, we follow doctoral student Fawz Naim to the Northwest margin of Greenland, where he is currently participating in IODP Leg 400. His expedition runs through October. He sent us this report on August 20:

“We had port call days from Aug 13-16 where we got some basic orientation and safety training for life at sea and survival in cold weather. We started from Reykjavik, Iceland on 3Aug 17 and are now on transit to NW Greenland. I could see Greenland mountains far away above the horizon. Seawaters were somewhat rough near Iceland but are getting calmer now. It was cloudy for the first two days but now we can see clear sky. I am getting into my night shift routine as well.

We have ice observers sailing with us who are keeping an eye on the ice conditions at sea and will be monitoring the icebergs as we get close to the drill sites. There is some sea ice at the moment near the drill sites, but it is expected to go away as we reach the sites. Our expected arrival at the first drill site is on Aug 24 past midnight.

As a physical properties specialist, I will be working on measuring different physical properties on the cores (such as natural gamma ray, bulk density, magnetic susceptibility, p wave velocity). This will provide important insights into the matrix and pore fluids in the sediments and rocks. Right now I am getting trained on the equipment that I need to use and will start with the measurements as soon as we get the first core on deck.”

Good luck, Fawz!