The 32nd summer campaign (2016-2017) of the National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) has kicked off. Like every year, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) is also part of the research team. The group of INGV technicians and researchers, made up of Riccardo Vagni, Alessio di Roberto, Graziano Larocca, Paola Del Carlo and Domenico di Mauro, left the port of Lyttelton (New Zealand) to head, on board the Nave Italica, to the South Pole. Departed last December 30, the ship is currently (January 6 at 10.30) at latitude 69° 54,81S in the direction of the Ross Sea and has traveled 1480 miles.
Among the various planned activities, the installation of a new station for ionospheric observations, already present at the Italian-French Concordia Base of DomeC on the Antarctic plateau at 3200 meters above sea level; acquire seismic data and tephra sampling from Melburne and Rittmann volcanoes; update the magnetic declination and inclination measurements and control of the data acquisition equipment at the Italian Mario Zucchelli station; and finally, sampling marine sediments in the Ross Sea for tephrostratigraphic studies and paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions on board the Nave Italica.
Photo: from right to left, Alberto Salvati, Graziano Larocca, Riccardo Vagni, Paola Del Carlo, Domenico Di Mauro, Alessio Di Roberto and Andrea Cannata.