We woke up at 2 am to make our 4:30 flight. we have a lot of baggage and people so we needed to get there early. We will spend 6 hours in the Oslo airport before connecting in Reykjavik, Iceland and then on to Boston. Jeremy is staying in Oslo to vacation with his parents and Cara is going to London to visit relatives. We will be a small group of 8 traveling on to Boston. After working with a group of 14 all summer, 8 seems like a very small number.
Waiting to get on the plane.
Waiting at the airport at 4 am!
Getting on the plane!
view across the fjord from the airport.
A last look from the airport into the fjord.
A view from the Svalbard airport!
Today is Sunday and we are in Longyearbyen. We woke up to falling snow and it snowed on and off all day.
Al and Steve spent the day reorganizing the equipment for storage at
UNIS to be used again next year. In the afternoon, we attended the presentations of the remaining students.
The rest of the day we took care of errands and took some last pictures of the town.
A town with a view!
A walk through town with the snow covered peaks.
We had a group photo after the lectures on the stairs at the UNIS facility.
A group photo at UNIS
We had a group meal together of at a restaurant called Houset (translated the house) We had reindeer with vegetables.
It was good to e able to eat together as a group one last time before we leave Longyearbyen and have to say goodbye
to the UNIS students...
Our first night back in Longyearbyen proved to be exciting for all. We all had meals and beverages of our choice and there was a gathering at UNIS for the students who are starting the new school term. In spite of it all, six students gave their presentations today. They did a very good job and will give this presentation to their advisors at their home institutions.
Terra presents her reseach.
Greg presents his thesis work.
Andrew presents his thesis work.
Berit presents her thesis work on Karst systems.
Jeremy presents thesis work on sediment cores.
Cara presents her work on the biology of Lake Linne.
Looks like winter, it has been snowing in Longyearbyen today.
Snow on the peaks. Looks like summer is over in Svalbard!
The seas had calmed down enough for the polarcirkel boats to make it out to Isfjord radio to pick us up. The boats are alot like zodiac boats except they have a hard plastic bottom and can fit more people. They are small however and ride close to the water, so getting wet is expected. All of our bags are either waterproof or covered in a plastic bag.
Polarcirket boat to take us to Longyearbyen. Lowering the boat off the dock.
All hands on deck! Helping to put the boat in the water at low tide.
The boat is almost packed. Just a few more people.
People on the boat ready to go.
Al and Steve on the front breaking the waves for the rest of us.
Al holding the other boat while they work on engine trouble.
Terra bracing for the arctic waters on the trip back...
We were about to leave for Longyearbyen today until we were told that our boat, which was taking the 2 hours trip out from longyearbyen to Kapp linee had to turn back because of the high seas. Of course, we were a bit disappointed but another day at Isfjord radio is a very desirable place to be stranded. The students spent the day working on the final presentations which they will make to the scientific community at UNIS on Saturday and Sunday.
All dressed up and nowhere to go. Just after we found out our boat was not going to be able to make it due to high seas.
Wondering what we will do with an extra day at Isfjord radio.
The students working hard on their final presentations to pull together the data they collected in the field.
Lots of samples to process when we get...
We are leaving Isfjord Radio tomorrow so no one went into the field today. We spent the day packing the equipment and getting the bags ready for the trip back to Longyearbyen tomorrow by boat. In the afternoon, we went on a field trip along the coast heading south from Isfjord radio. Lots of birds, several interesting outcrops of rocks containing diamictons (I will describe later) and lots of great scenery.
Field trip on the cliffs at Kapp Linne.
The arctic fulmar birds, too good a picture to pass up. They are on a flight pattern over the cliffs on the point.
A rock outcrop showing diamictons.
And views!
The thought of going to a town tomorrow with stores and an ATM machine and unlimited internet connections is quite appealing. (It is a very small town...
When you are living at 78 degrees north latitude (and change) for a good part of the summer, you must take the polar dip! Isfjord Radio will validate a polar dip with a certificate but of course that is not why I did it! (oh, really? some of my companions may question).
Latitude lines are the imaginary lines circling around a globe which are parallel to the equator. There are 5 latitude lines that are so special they actually have names in addition to numbers. 1) the equator- it divides the northern hemisphere from the southern hemisphere, latitude is 0 degrees, 2) and 3) tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn, 23 deg 26' 21' ' north and south respectively, 4) and 5) Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle 66 deg 33' 39' ' north and south respectively. Latitude...
The Arctic Char is the most northern fresh water species of fish. It can live in both fresh water and salt water. Late in the summer the Char will swim from the ocean up river to very cold glacial lakes before the ice starts to form on the lakes. Other arctic char live year round in very cold fresh water lakes. There is a group of biologists who are spending a few days at Isfjord Radio at Kapp Linne from UNIS. They went out into the field today to fish for the Arctic Char so they can learn about it, disect it and then finally eat a sample of it. They brought back two fish and I captured a shot after they were cleaned and ready for cooking.
An arctic char
The two Arctic Char that were fished out of Lake Linne and are disected by the biologists and are...
Ducks have recently hatched and have been seen in the lake, in the ocean and karst ponds following their parents and learning their duck skills.
The baby ducklings have hatched and can now be seen around the lakes and ocean.
Braided outwash channel into Lake Linne.
The glacier group is winding down their sample collection. They go to the glacier every other day and have one more sample collection day before we leave our field site. They have a very long walk of 26 kilometers (16 miles) each day to get to the glacier and back. They carry down 24 -1/2 liter samples from the glacier (53 lbs) of water collected in the ISCO automatic water samplers. Terra is characterizing the amount of particles covering the snow and took over 100 pictures today on the glacier. ...
The Svalbard Kurset is a class about Svalbard given by UNIS to many important people from the Norwegian ministries. Two days of the two week long class took place at the site of our field area, Kapp Linne. They educate the government officials or advisors to politicians so they understand the issues regarding Svalbard. For example a representative from the environmental ministry, the climate change dept, the education dept. and so on are represented in this group. We were able to meet with this group of 25 officials out in the field and each student shared the research they were doing. Our program directors gave an overview of the project to the group. Jeremy and Andrew extruded a sediment core so they could see how we acquire science data from the lake...
Finally, reindeer within reach of my camera. We have seen many reindeer, usually every day, but they are not always close enough to get a picture.
Two reindeer close enough for pictures.
According to an article in National Geographic News, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game states both the male and female reindeer grow antlers. During the rut the male reindeer fight and will loose their antlers by November or early December. The females typically keep their antlers until January. According to the Large Animals Research Station in Fairbanks, Alaska, the wildlife biologist stated that only the pregnant reindeer keep their antlers until late spring. This presents the question; are Santa's reindeer all female, possibly...
Saying goodbye to our comrades at Lake Linne in the morning. They were going to the south end to collect lake sediment data and we were going to the north end to survey.
Saying goodbye to the group in the boat in Lake Linne.
Another day in the Karst Lake region. Beautiful scenery; on a nice day you can see the ocean, the glacier and beautiful outcrops of rocks. Today we were surveying and mapping the area. Cruise ships and fishing boats pass by in the fjord during the day.
Surveying and mapping in the Karst region.
Looking down on a Karst sink hole.
Karst lakes and a view of the ocean.
A cruise ship passes by in the fjord.
Looks good enough to dive in but it is the arctic and so that would not be a good idea with a typical temperature of 6 degrees...
This is the view through our kitchen window.
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A brief survey of our measurement and sensor equipment that we have been using in the field.
GPS sensor for bathymetry measurements which can measure the depth beneath the surface of the water.
Bathymetry equipment.
Troll instrument measures conductivity, turbidity, water temperature and water pressure.
The Troll device.
Survey equipment to determine elevation and produce topo maps.
Survey equipment.
A water temperature logger.
Temperature Logger.
Temperature and light sensor pendant for albedo measurement which gives the fraction of incoming light that is reflected from the surface of the snow.
Temperature and Light pendant.
Accelerometer pendant measures movement in 3-d or tilt
Accelerometer.
Fuzzy foot stool, Svalbard style
Fuzzy...
There are a couple of students who walk to the Linne glacier every other day to study the glacier in depth. Besides the ongoing weather station data collection and ablation measurements (removal of material from the surface of the glacier), Terra, a student from University of Chicago is interested in studying how particles on the snow effects the loss/melting of the snow. In a natural environment there is dust, dirt, sediments etc on the top of the glacier so a glacier isn't completely white. These particles arrive on top of the glacier by winds or rain or other transport methods. A clean glacier or a dirty glacier absorbs the suns rays differently depending on the amount and type of particles. Terra is running some controlled experiments to learn more about how...
The students are processing the sediment cores. Jeremy and Andrew practiced extruding a few sediment cores to make sure they had the best technique worked out and that the cores were giving useful information. The process involved siphoning off the top water, extruding the sediments out of the plastic core tube and then cutting the core in half to see the varve layers. When they arrive back in their lab in the states, they will make thin sections of the samples by embedding the sediment in an epoxy and polishing it to be able to examine each layer of sediment closely. Each year will produce a winter and summer layer of sediments which are distinguishable from each other and this varve layer-summer and winter sediment- will give information regarding the climate and...
We did more coring today and were able to get a couple more cores. I was able to get some video of the process so it was interesting to document. We are still missing a couple moorings that we cannot find so we spent a lot of time looking for them. It was fairly stormy and cold in the day but on our way home to base camp, it became very sunny. The views are so impressive but we don't get many sunny days. I have a few pictures of our commute to and from work each day.
Our commute home from work. Off in the distance is the Isfjord Radio and the ocean.
Our program directors pointing to the direction home.
One of the views on our commute!
A view across the ocean inlet.
Sunset over the lighthouse.
The graceful fulmar birds flying overhead on the point at...
The Svalbard sandwich is different from ours. Instead of two pieces of bread and the sandwich meat or spread in between, the Svalbard sandwich only has one piece of bread, lunch meat or spread on top and then you put a small size sheet of wax paper over it and stack another sandwich on top of it. Since we go out to the field, we each have a plastic container or a plastic bag to carry our lunch.
The Svalbard sandwich.
Sandwich size wax paper strips that you put in between your Svalbard sandwich.
Each day we have our breakfast feast and after breakfast we make our lunches from the breakfast food. They wouldn't have peanut butter but they know we like it so they buy it for their American customers. They also have a brown cheese which is not pretty to...
Today we took a guided tour of Lake Kongress to learn the geology and geomorphology of the area. Our guides were our research professors, Al and Steve. The lake is south east of Lake Linne and is about a 1 hour walk from Lake Linne. We went there the long way, however, by a couple other small lakes and then walked back through the wind gap between the two lakes. We had a lot of fun, in spite of the instructors threats to give us a quiz on the material we were learning. There was a rock throwing contest, which the Bates crew won - they claim they take a couple classes in that discipline. There was a skiing display down a couple snow slopes and there was a lot of rock skiing. Diana and I even slid down one of the snow slopes because it was a...
We had most beautiful weather day. It was sunny and relatively warm. During lunch we took in some rays. And we played arctic soccer using a buoy with a string on it while we waited for the glacier group to finish collecting their samples.
Andrew, Cheryl, Greg, Al and Jeremy catching rays during lunch south of the lake.
Arctic soccer using a buoy with a string on it. Jeremy, Andrew and Diana.
A beautiful day for a picture of Linne glacier
It was calm enough on the water to practice taking core samples. The technique to take a core out of the bottom of the lake is a little tricky to get the sediments as undisturbed as possible.
Jeremy's first successful practice core.
An insiders view of the practice core.
Another day of weather! The fog is so think it seems like it is raining and the wind has kicked up. I am learning not to believe the weather forecasts.
Jeremy weighing the salt to put in the glacier outlet river on fish hook.
Steve measuring the amount of salt to put in the river.
Survival suits are not just for surviving. They can be used to collect scientific data in the middle of a glacier outlet stream. Jeremy is measuring the conductivity in the stream after salt is added to determine the flow discharge of the river.
Jeremy measuring the conductivity of the glacier outlet wearing the survival suit so he can stand in the middle of the river.
Glacier day for some of the students. Ablation study (removal of snow from glacier), glacial albedo...
Today we had the opportunity to run the sled dogs. They have a 3 wheeled bicycle designed for training the dogs during the summer. Greg, Cara, Jeremy and I all took a turn riding with a dog. It is pretty hard to stay upright but the dogs basically know where to go so it is just a matter of getting them to stop (HO) and turn right (H). It is actually a Norwegian word starting with H but the letter H is enough to get the point across. The dogs living at Isfjord radio are part of a larger set owned by Basecamp, the company who owns this hotel. They have guided dog sled trips at various Basecamp locations in the winter.
Cheryl is pulled by a sled dog on a 3 wheel cycle to keep the sled dog in shape over the summer.
Jeremy out for a run with a dog and...
Why carry a boat across the arctic tundra?
Carrying a boat across the arctic tundra to run experiments in the Karst lake.
To measure the depth profile, conductivity, turbidity and temperature of the Karst pond found on the arctic tundra, of course.
The boat with experimental equipment in a Karst Lake.
And a beautiful view of the ridge east of Linne Lake.
An experiment with a view, looking out at the ocean from the Karst Lake.
According to the Karst Water Institute, more than 25 percent of the world's population either lives on or obtains its water from karst aquifers. In the United States, 20 percent of the land surface is karst and 40 percent of the groundwater used for drinking comes from karst aquifers. Karst features are very important. Karsts are features presented as...
A lot of our kitchen and living room in Gammel Stasjonen which means the Old Station where the instructor's live have been made into a lab. In the living room, we have Al, Greg and Diana working on the Interval-o-meter. A very important instrument that collects sediments and measures the interval the sediment fell into the trap In the kitchen, we have Simon filtering the sediments in the water sample which he collects from the outlet of the glacier every two hours. In another part of the kitchen, we have more common equipment to make hot caffeinated liquids.
Al, Greg and Diana working on the Interval-o-meter getting it ready to go out into the field.
Simon filtering sediments from his glacier outlet samples which he measures every two hours.
Equipment...
The Norwegian people I have met have been very interesting. Even in Oslo, which is in the southern end of Norway, there is a light season or polar days in the summer and a dark season or polar nights in the winter. Oslo is similar in latitude to Anchorage, Alaska. According to the Anchorage Convention and Travel bureau website, Anchorage gets 7 hours of functional daylight on the winter soltice, the shortest day and longest night of the year. During the summer solstice, it is stated there is 24 hours of functional daylight. In Oslo, there is a similar abount of daylight during the year. Having never lived in an arctic region, it is difficult to get used to the never ending sun in the summer, I am continueally surprised when I look at the time. The...
After we removed the sediment traps from the lake, we make new sediment traps for next year. The first picture shows two sediment traps attached to a backpack in the picture. The receiving tube, which is a clear plastic tube, has collected the sediments over the last year. The sediment traps are collected and the clear plastic tube is removed and the funnel is set up again with the new plastic tube. The second picture shows the new sediment trap being attached to the mooring line. The receiving tube from sediments from the previous year is allowed to partially dry and then it is taken back to the lab and analyzed for particle size. As the year progresses, different size particles are deposited in the sediment traps based on the types of particles that...
