Spring Field Work

My work during the spring field season with the Norwegian Polar Institute started in Longyearbyen in mid-April.  After waiting a few days, Dr. Kohler and I departed for Kapp Linné to do a mass balance study on Linnébreen.  We snow mobiled from Longyearbyen to Isfjorden Radio, a trip of around 100 km.  Isfjorden radio used to be the main point of contact between Svalbard and mainland Norway and still has a variety of antennas.  Now it serves as a tourist destination serving excellent food and offering a place to stay and an otherwise uninhabited area.  During our trip there and during the first day of field work weather was excellent and we were able to take GPS velocity measurements, stake measurements, density measurement, snow soundings, and drill one new mass balance stake.  The second day the weather deteriorated and we took some more snow soundings, density measurements, and collected one snow sample to analyze for pollutants.  Though the weather on the trip back was now as good and visibility was at times quite poor, with the aid of handheld GPS units we were able to make it back to Longyearbyen without incident.   After repacking our gear and stowing the snow sample in a freezer, we headed to Ny-Ålesund the next day. 

 

After one day of preparation in Ny-Ålesund, we planned to head to Kongsvegen, a larger glacier located at the end of the fjord.  Due to the fact that there was no sea ice this year, which although unusual is not unprecedented, we had to drive a somewhat circumspect room over another glacier and through a pass to approach the glacier on the other side of a peninsula where it can be accessed via land.  When leaving that morning it was raining, something unusual for late-April weather in Ny-Ålesund, but the snow conditions seemed passable so we pressed on.  On the other side of the pass, the entire drainage delta of another glacier had turned to slush making it very difficult to drive and we were forced to turn back after one of the most experienced drivers on a very powerful snow mobile said that he didn’t think that it was prudent to continue.  During our drive there, the snow conditions on the pass had deteriorated.  We had a lot of difficulty getting the snow mobiles and equipment back up the pass.  One snow mobile couldn’t even make it up the pass without a sled and had to be driven around the peninsula.  After returning, we were forced to reconsider our field plans and realized that the trips to the large glaciers of Holtedalfonna and Kongsvegen would have to be limited to the essential measurements, namely mass balance, unless cold weather returned.

The next few days I spend working on Midre Lovénbreen on a variety of different projects including borehole logging, ground-penetrating radar, ice coring and mass balance.  When borehole logging we used neutron probe to measure density and compared it to the bulk density of an ice core drilled in the same core or nearby.  The neutron probe contains a radioactive source which sends out neutrons.  They scatter off water inclusions in the ice and the number returned indicates the density.  I didn’t directly operate any of the borehole logging equipment but it was interesting to watch.  For the first time I did help extract an ice core.  We drilled to approximately 7 meters to compare with the borehole logging that was done in a smaller hole nearby and then logged the drill hole as well.  The drilling was a new part of field work and it was interesting to operate the drill as there is some technique to make sure that the drill bites but doesn’t get stuck.  You don’t want to have to dig it out when it is 20 feet into the ice.  We also operated radar systems in the area where we conducted borehole logging experiments and extracted ice cores.  This allows us to get some spatial coverage of glacier structure instead of only knowing the properties at one point. 

Eventually, the cold weather did return and was accompanied by a snowstorm.  The next day a group immediately went to Kongsvegen to conduct experiments and was successful in conducting borehole logging, shallow ice coring, mass balance measurement, and snow sample collection.  Although this was not the experiments were conducted to the same extent as originally planned, this was valuable data and gave people something.  Following this trip we continued mass balance measurements on Midre Lovénbreen and Austre Brøggerbreen which are two glaciers that are very close to Ny-Ålesund.  Due to the warm temperatures both in April and January we suspected that water had percolated through the snow pack and refrozen forming what is called superimposed ice.  The superimposed ice has a positive effect on the mass balance but it is difficult to measure due to the fact that you can’t easily tell the difference between superimposed ice and the glacier surface when snow sounding.  Therefore we took very shallow ice cores drilled by hand at various points on the glacier to characterize superimposed ice accumulation.  The variation from superimposed ice to the previous summer glacier surface is shown by a dirt layer followed by ice that has a different texture when we examine the shallow core.  Taking these measurements revealed superimposed ice accumulation of up to 20 cm.  This was a very large accumulation and it is easy to see how superimposed ice can play a significant role in mass balance.  After one more abortive attempt to reach Holtedalfonna in my 3^rd week in the field it was clear that it was no longer possible.  Another period of above freezing temps, which normally first come in early June and not mid-May, made it clear that it would no longer be possible to reach the glacier.  Therefore I was not able to collect additional radar data for my research on the firn lake on Holtedalfonna.  Nevertheless the field season was an excellent experience which allowed me to see many new aspects of glaciological experience and to gain important experience operating in the field. 

 Enjoy all the pictures below. 

 Isfjorden radio on a stormy day.  Notice the large number of antennas still presnet.

A density pit on Linnébreen.  Snow samples are taken vertically and weighed to measure density. 

 Jack Kohler surveys Kjell Arild’s snow moblie which sunk in the slush.  (Photo: Rune Storvold).

Borehole logging on Midre Lovénbreen.  The tent protects the sensitive electronics. 

High frequency radar experiments on Midre Lovénbreen.  (Photo: Bob Hawley)

Me operating the ice drill on Midre Lovénbreen.  (Photo: Bob Hawley)

The GSSI ground-penetrating radar field computer. 

The GSSI ground-penetrating radar 900 Mhz antenna.

Me drilling by hand for superimposed ice.  (Photo: Elisabeth Isaksson)

A very shallow ice core showing superimposed ice as the denser ice at the bottom of the core.  A dirt layer clearly marks the boundary between the superimposed ice and glacier ice from the previous summer surface.   

The calving front of Kronebreen, the fastest moving glacier on Svalbard.

Austre Brøggerbreen from a distance showing a large meltwater stream in the middle of the photograph which we had to cross on snow mobiles.