Glossary
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You may think that the CHASQ rests during the cold winters in Québec. Actually this is not the case as the team is even active during the winter months. Divers go under the ice to check the condition of the wreck and the bottom of the riverbed. Since there is no vegetation during the winter the visibility of the site is much better than in the summer. However, the thickness of the ice, which is usually about 1 meter, makes any real excavation impossible.

When the Saint Lawrence River is covered by a thick coat of ice, it is possible to work on the site in a other way. In two different seasons students from the Ecole Polythechnique of the Université de Montréal, conducted magnetometer surveys of the site. The variation of the magnetic field of the ground above the channel was measured. When a pass is made above a concentration of iron the reading of the magnetometer indicates a variation (see dark color on image below). It is then possible to pinpoint the location of the wreck and other magnetic anomalies. This discovery greatly assisted the crew in their planning the following summer season.