Activities of the summer season of the 47th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, 2005-2006

Abstract

The activities in the 2005-2006 austral summer of the 47th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE-47) are reported. JARE-47 consisted of 60 personnel including 23 summer personnel and 37 wintering personnel. In addition, six visitors accompanied the expedition. R/V Shirase arrived at the ice edge on 15 December 2005. She anchored at Syowa Station on 24 Decemebr and unloaded 1000t of cargo and fuel by mid-January 2006. Because weather in this season was extremely good, transportation and construction works at Syowa Station were going well. The Japan-Germany Collaborative Airborne Geophysical Survey was a major scientific program. Two aircraft and 15 personnel including 11 from Germany and Canada participated in the program. A new air base was established on the continental ice sheet near Syowa Station. The air-borne survey was very successful with the mapping of an area 400×900km in 111.5 hours flight time. In addition, biological, geodetic and geological field investigations and geophysical field station observations were carried out in the Lutzow-Holm Bay region. The JARE-47 summer party and JARE-46 wintering party on board Shirase left Syowa Station on 12 February. On the return voyage, oceanographic and marine biological observations, geomagnetism and other studies were carried out. All personnel disembarked at the Port of Sydney on 21 March. A 7-person special team for the deep ice-drilling project took air transportation from Cape Town via Novolazarevskaya Station. The team met the traverse party of JARE-46 wintering team at ARP-2 point on 3 November. Then they traveled to Dome Fuji Station where they successfully carried out ice drilling to a depth of 3028.52m. The summer members of the drilling team left Dome Fuji by aircraft on 23 January and returned to Cape Town via Novolazarevskaya. They arrived in Tokyo on 9 February.