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Svalbard - Permafrost Course Field Work

On a way to cirque near Svalbard airport where there was a coal mine.

View on the airport in Adventfjorden.

But here is now a shooting range.

Where we trained for our bear selfe defence during field work.

Some are full of adrenaline, but some are bored.

Sun greeted us with halo this morning.

When the field work in Adventalen was scheduled.

25 people squeezed

in two caterpillars.

During a bumpy ride.

Out in the middle of Adventalen.

Photographing the untouched snow.

Preparing the terrain for coring.

Oliver is chopping ice.

Site is ready for coring.

Already the first core got stuck in the barrel, because of immediate material expansion on -15 °C.

One vehicle is gone to get a heater.

Chris is supervising the coring.

Other group proceeded much faster, so they could already use self-gravity for coring.

Last empty core barrel filled with core and waiting to be heated.

Not a bad day for field work.

Somebody is wearing UNIS suit turned upside down.

Time for ground penetrating radar. Brian is showing 100 MHz antenna.

But we mounted 500 MHz antenna.

Oliver in action.

Meanwhile Ole's group has found an ice wedge.

Just a lot of ice.

With a crack that forms usually forms after air temperatures fall below -20 °C.

Trying to detect ice wedges with radar.

and in other direction.

Cloud cap on Hiorthfjellet.

And open-system pingo just below the slope.

Meanwhile other groups progressed deeper.

And time to go back.

Snow profile digging during much less pleasant weather.

In search for the appropriate location.

Fighting with snow from below and above.

Almost 1 m of snow with well visible ice layers.

Profile description.

Air temperature measurements on wind exceeding 50 km/h.

Snowed backpacks.

Wind will fill the hole very soon, so we can just leave.

Ground surface temperature measurements.

Much colder than outside where it was just slightly below zero.

Kjersti is probing snow.

Just about to finish and return to centre of Longyearbyen where it was much calmer.