Now that all materials and equipment are on board, the engineers are working hard to prepare the barge for coring. Yesterday, the barge was positioned and anchored at the first drilling site, and a start was made to construct the casing that will protect the drill hole. The casing consists of 3m pieces that need to be weld, so it takes a while to cover the 90m deep water column. Still, rumor goes that the real drilling will start later today…!
In the mean time, we spent a day on the lake to collect a water profile. We filled 143 bottles and vials of Challa water from 13 different depths to analyze the composition of a wide variety of elements when we get back to the lab in Utrecht. Although the presence of H2S below 50m can already be confirmed based on ‘field observations’ (or just the smell of rotten eggs).
Our spare time will be limited once the drilling starts and we have to work our shifts , so we use it now to visit nearby Lake Jipe, Grogan’s Castle, and to dance with the locals.