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Hiking
Today was our first and only free day and it came as a welcome break from lectures. The group consensus was for some exercise along the mountains surrounding Longyearbyen. We assembled early, much to some peoples despair, and began our climb up the sloppy muddy ridge at the south end of the beach end of town. The track turned to loose rock and then we were soon in snow. The weather was grey and we ascended into the cold cloud eventually coming out into clear skies. The jackets went away and the shades and sunglasses came out. 'Waterproof' shoes proved otherwise. Hiking in snow was a brand new experience for at least one member of the group and a bit out of the ordinary for a number of us. We summated mt Trollsteinen (~850m), took in the fantastic view of the Svalbar...
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We were a little worse for wear following the midsummer party at the beach the previous night but managed attentiveness throughout the days lectures. Mostly. We studied the arctic marine ecosystem, zooplankton, the arctic cod and the polar bear. I have studied very little biology previously and felt I gained a lot from this introduction. I particularly enjoyed the polar bear lecture given by Jon Aars as he spoke with practical experience about the study of these fantastic animals in the wild with particular emphasis on the Svalbard population. The marine biology talks were also interesting and I look forward to the lessons being reinforced in the field next week. However, by the days end the brain had reached saturation.
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20.06.09 Midtsommerfest Because of the Friday gathering the day before, some of us had a hard time getting up this day, but in the end we all made it to the university on time. It was the first biology day, and the focus of the lectures was the challenges that come with living in an arctic environment, especially at sub zero temperatures. The lectures were awesome, so we had no problems staying awake through a long day (maybe not everyone will share our (biological) opinion on the lectures). After lunch we headed out in the hills close to Sukkertoppen to look at some representatives of the beautiful flora of Svalbard. Some of us got really wet from the melting snow (leading to some -barefooted students), but it was obviously worth it - the flowers were great. We fini...
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Friday 19th of June
The day began at 9:15am with lectures on oceanography. The first was with Helen Johnson from Oxford University who gave us an overview of oceanographic principles. She gave us a few ideas about possible future scenarios depending on climate change impacts on thermohaline circulation. She focused on the importance of high latitude circulation, especially the region near Svalbard. This is where warm Atlantic Ocean currents flow into the Arctic Ocean. She is working on an IPY project called Arctic/Subarctic Ocean Fluxes (ASOF). The project is attempting to quantify the flux of freshwater output through the Nares Strait which is located between Greenland and Ellesmere Island. The next lecture was given by Yngve Kristofferson from the University of Bergen. He ...
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The third day of the IPY field school kicked off with another brisk stroll down to UNIS. Weather conditions were much clearer and warmer; the sun even popped its head out every now and again to see how the IPY students were getting along. The first lecture of the day was given by Prof. Hanne Christiansen, giving a thorough background on the Geology of Svalbard. Following Prof. Hanne Christiansen was a series of lectures given by PhD student Monica Sund covering glaciology and in particular the amazing glaciers covering the Svalbard landscape. It is very interesting to learn of the vast historical record that the geology of the region contains and the picturesque landscape made the task even better.
Following the lectures and a brief lunch, the students met up at Nybyen for the geomo...
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Thursday, 18 June
We woke up to a beautiful, sunny and warm day. The day started with a lecture about Permafrost with Hanne H. Christiansen. As 60% of Svalbard is covered by glaciers and the rest is periglacial environments, permafrost and the forms developed there is an important part of the science of Svalbard. The next lecture was about avalanches on which we did some fieldwork yesterday. The lecturer was Markus Eckerstorfer. Since avalanches are common on Svalbard a lot of research is provided on this field. After lunch we headed out to the field, in Adventsdalen. This was our first big excursion outside Longyearbyen and we had to carry rifles and signal pistols, which made it a little more serious. In Adventsdalen we measured the depth of the thawed layer on over 120 preset loc...
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Hi from 78°N! Some of us have been here for a couple of days now so we are updating you all on what we have been doing. During the long flight from Oslo we were lucky to have clear views of the sea ice and southern Spitzbergen. Amazing! In Svalbard, we are staying in the student accommodation in Nybyen about 3km from UNIS in old mining barracks. Unfortunately this means a 30 minute walk to UNIS, not a pleasant experience in gale force winds and sub-zero temperatures, although it gives an opportunity to get to know the 22 other people from 11 different countries!
Whilst waiting for the field school to begin we took advantage of the good weather and went hiking up Longyearbreen (the local glacier) near our accommodation (with a rifle in case of polar bear encounters!). Part way...
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Wednesday, 17 June 2009 08:39
IPY Polar field school - A little sun, snow and sweat
Written by lizthomas
The third day of the IPY field school kicked off with another brisk stroll down to UNIS. Weather conditions were much clearer and warmer; the sun even popped its head out every now and again to see how the IPY students were getting along. The first lecture of the day was given by Prof. Hanne Christiansen, giving a thorough background on the Geology of Svalbard. Following Prof. Hanne Christiansen was a series of lectures given by PhD student Monica Sund covering glaciology and in particular the amazing glaciers covering the Svalbard landscape. It is very interesting to learn of the vast historical record that the geology of the region contains and the picturesque landscape made the task even better.
Following the lectures and a brief lunch, the students met up at Nybyen for the geomo...
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After a rough night with beds shaking from the wind, the IPY field course students worked their way through the gusts of winds to the UNIS building. There, the first two lectures were given by Ole Humlum, a professor of physical geography at the University of Oslo. He has lived in Longyearbyen and still teaches here part time. He lectured about Arctic Climate Change in the Present and Past. He used some interesting historical examples, like the Spanish Armada fleet being surprised by extremely bad weather and the coasts of England and Ireland being covered with broken Spanish ships, which happened during the Little Ice Age. Also during the Little Ice Age the Arctic cod was not present in Northern waters near Norway, and the Swedish army was able to reach Copenhagen on sea ice, which left t...