Glaciology Course

Last week I returned from Svalbard after taking a month long course in glaciology at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS).  This course was designed to be a month long, intensive study of glaciology for students at the Masters or PhD level in the fields of physical geography or glacial geology.  The month long course was divided into 4 themes: glacier systems, mass balance and Svalbard glaciers, glacier dynamics, and glacier modeling.  Each theme was taught by an expert in that specific subfield.  The teaching staff consisted of Doug Benn, Jon-Ove Hagen, Tavi Murray, Nick Hulton, and Ian Rutt.  Overall this course provided a good overview to the current state of glaciology. 

In additional to lecture and seminar, this course also included four field excursions to various glaciers near UNIS on Svalbard.  The transportation method was on sleds towed by snow mobile, this makes for a cold and bumpy trip, or by bandwagon, a vehicle on tank treads that can move through deep snow.  The first glacier we visited was Drønbreen located in Adventdalen near UNIS.  This glacier is believed to have surged about fifty years ago.  We also briefly stopped at a pingo, an ice blister in the permafrost, on the way to the glacier.  The second week we made a more extensive field excursion to Bogerbreen.  Here we dug a snow pit and completed a snow sounding survey of the glacier so we would have some experience in the methods used for measuring winter accumulation when calculating mass balance.  The third excursion was a longer trip to Paulabreen, a surge type glacier which appears to have stopped its latest surge during the winter month.  The chaotic surge front that met the sea ice was an impressive site.  On the fourth trip we traveled over an ice field called Fimbulisen to see Tunabreen, which is a tidewater glacier or has a calving front in the fjord.  The fjord is frozen right now but the ice cliff at the terminus is still striking.  Several pictures are included from the excursions below.            

In addition to the coursework, this course also provided an excellent opportunity to get to know other people in the field and to go on trips near Longyearbyen in our free time.  In the long run, this social interaction was more valuable the academic work as I now have met a number of young scientists who are interested in glaciology and with whom I will likely interact in the future.           

I am not away from Svalbard for long this time as I return for a month long field season with the Norwegian Polar Institute next week. 

Enjoy the photos. 

Professor Benn explaining layering in a snow pit.

Snow sounding on Brogerbreen

Even snow mobiles get stuck.

Looking down on Longyearbyen.

The surge front of Paulabreen.

Me in front of the surge front of Paulabreen for scale.

Snow mobiling across an ice field.

The calving front of Tunabreen.

February Travel

I apologize for the long interlude between blog entries.  The reason for the long pause is my travel schedule with frequently precludes easy access to internet.  For the last 6-7 weeks I have been traveling in Easter and Norway and Svalbard.  Don’t expect more entries until I return from the field work in mid-May. 

I spent the second half of February traveling in Eastern and Northern Norway.  My first destination on this latest trip was Oslo.  Here I met up with the other Fulbright grantees and we presented our projects at the Fulbright Institute.  It was great to get together and see all the other Fulbrighters.  Afterwards we headed up to the mountains near Lillehammer for a weekend of skiing.  The conditions were spectacular with around 2 meters of powdery snow and temperatures just below skiing.  The scenery was also amazing as all the trees were covered in a thick coating of snow.  The resort was also very nice with good accommodations and an all you can eat buffet at every meal.  At the end of the weekend it was a little sad to part as we realized that we would not see each other together before leaving Norway. 

After the ski weekend I traveled back to Oslo and met my sister.  For a few days we say the sights: the Viking ship museum, Fram museum, Kon-tiki, Holmenkollen, etc.  We also had the opportunity to visit with several of my Norwegian friends in Oslo.  Afterwards, we traveled back to Tromsø where we again saw tourist sites and also went dog sledding on Kvaløya.  After an hour of sledding and playing with the dogs we enjoyed a lunch of reindeer stew with chocolate cake for desert in a Sami tent.  Some pictures of the trip are attached below. 

I hope everyone is enjoying the arrival of spring.  Here in Tromsø in the early part of April the temperatures have started to rise above freezing regularly and the snow pack is beginning to melt.  The days are also longer and it now gets dark around 9 pm in the evening and starts to get light at 3 am.  The midnight sun will be arriving soon (the first day of no-night arrived on Svalbard the day I left). 

Posing as Nansen at the Polar Museum in Oslo.

Sled dogs are friendly. 

Alta the sled dog. 

My sister, Caitlin, and a sled dog puppy.

Me and a sled dog puppy. 

 Caitlin and I in a sami tent after the dog sledding trip.

The exterior view of the sami tent.