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.

Jul i Norge

For Christmas my Dad and brother came to visit me in Norway.  After some difficulties with flights everybody had arrived in Longyearbyen, Svalbard by December 23rd.  We were still able to go on several excursions in despite the 24-hour polar night.  On Svalbard the polar night lasts from October to March, and in December 24 hours of darkness means complete and utter darkness.  There is no twilight here, only light from the aurora borealis, moon, and stars.  On the positive side there are spectacular displays of the northern lights during the day and night.  There are a wide variety of colors: green, red, blue, violet, yellow, and white.  The form of the lights also varies forming curtains and crowns that dance across the sky.  I don’t have any pictures that truly capture this phenomenon.  It is something that you must experience and pictures don’t do it justice.            

Our first excursion was to an old abandoned mine.  A fun, short hike this trip also involves sledding down a mountain side; it really is safer then walking down the steep and ice slope.  As Olav, my brother, and I were talking about how my Dad dislikes this activity, he yelled from behind “take a picture of me, quick,” with a big smile on his face.  The next day we took an excursion to the ice caves on Longyear glacier.  This trip involves skiing for 3 hours to the entrance, digging through the snow bridge, setting up climbing ropes and climbing with ice axes and crampons, then skiing back down.  It is also pitch black, besides the northern lights, and we must always keep the rifle ready in case we encounter a polar bear on the ice.  The ice cave is an amazing site.  In reality it is not a cave, but a series of meltwater channel that have been covered by snow bridges.  As we descended into the glacier it got warmer, approaching freezing, and I could feel the difference that I have seen on radar-echo sounding data of glaciers.  Some areas are large, like hallways, and others are more like crawl spaces.  I have included several pictures below.  We also tried to climb Sarkofargen, a nearby mountain, a few days later but were turned back by a storm.  The next morning, the day we were scheduled to leave Svalbard, “en skikkelig snowstorm”, a full blizzard, had begun.  Winds were sustained at 70 mph and conditions were a constant white out.  After my Dad almost got hit by flying debris he decided that we shouldn’t be outside.  Needless to say the flight was canceled and we had one more day on Svalbard.             

From Svalbard we traveled to Tromsø and saw several museums.  The best here was Polaria, with an excellent seal show.  New Years Eve was really impressive with fireworks being fired in every direction by everyone.  Really, it was a fantastic show. 

After Tromsø, we continued to Trondheim and Trondelag.  We visited the historic site in the area including St. Olav’s cathedral and Stiklestad, the site where he died on 29 July 1030.  Olav Haraldsson, later St. Olav den Hellige, was a Viking king of Norway who was exiled and later martyred by forces loyal to King Knut den Mektige, then ruler of Denmark, England, Norway and Sweden.  Sometimes I wonder why our parents choose to name us Knut and Olav.  Olav was the king who played the most important role in uniting a newly Christianized Norway and started a monarchy that lasted for another 400 years.  He is the patron saint of Norway and his life and death are celebrated at Stiklestad every July 29.  In addition to visiting this site we also went skiing in Trondelag.  One of the best ski resorts in Norway, Oppdal lived up to its reputation.  Conditions were perfect and the skiing was excellent.  Soon after this my family left, but it was after a good trip through some areas of Norway that we hadn’t previous seen.   Click on the photo for a larger version.

 

My brother, Olav, and I at the julenisse’s (Santa Claus) mailbox. 

My dad and I at the entrance of the abandoned mine.Equipment for the ice cave.

Getting ready to ski up to the ice cave.

Setting up a climbing anchor in the ice cave.

Climbing up an ice wall.

 Pondering the best way to proceed.

My brother, Olav, ascending up the wall.

Who said a polar bear can’t be tamed.

New Year’s Eve.

 My brother, Olav, and I in front of Nidarosdomen.     

 

 

Mørketiden

Such an innocuous name for an aspect of your life that affects you more than you realize.  On Svalbard after the fall equinox, everyone quickly notices that darkness is constantly encroaching on all aspects of daily life.  It become more difficult to get up in the morning and it is easy to lose track of daily routines.  If you approach this period with a positive attitude these are the worst of the experiences you will have due to constant darkness.  This and the fact that all outdoor activities become somewhat limited.  There are also positive sides: excellent views of the northern lights in multiple colors in the night and that day, spending more time with friends as there is not much to do outside, and although not necessarily positive time to study since there is little left to distract you.  At the end of the day constant darkness is an interesting experience, but not one that I’d like to have permanently. 

Click on the photo for a larger version.

Longyearbyen during mørketiden.

First Day of School

My first day at UNIS started was officially an orientation course and started with things that you would expect with an orientation course.  We heard various university officials give short talks on why the university was located where it was, what kind of activities were conducted there, and how it was our responsibility to further these activities.  Then we split into 2 groups to start some more “hands on activities.”  The one group, my group, immediately departed to the rifle range where we quickly learned how to shoot 30-.06 rifles in order to defend ourselves against polar bears.  It was necessary to learn how to do this in a wide variety of conditions including snow storms, darkness, and stressful situations.  The process of using a rifle must become routine as they are necessary for field work and even for any activities outside of town.  The next morning training continues with the continuation our orientation course.  This time our focus is water safety.  We immediately put on survival suits and departed in rubber zodiacs.  The instructor then asked us to jump out into the water, approximately 0°C year round, and link up with everyone in the boat and then help each other climb back in.  We weren’t wearing any gloves, which is a normal when working with instruments in field conditions, and quickly saw that fast action is necessary in order to safely get out of the water in controlled conditions.  With this as part of the orientation course I knew that I was in for a different kind of study experience on Svalbard and this wasn’t your typical university. 

Click on the photo for a larrger version.

I am stading in front of UNIS in early August.

UNIS in the twilight of midday in late October.

The student dormitories in Nybyen in early September. 

 

A Short Summary of my Activities in Norway

         Traveling by ship on Isfjorden. 

 

My name is Knut Christianson and I am an American Fulbright grantee spending one year in Northern Norway.  My grant in Norway has two primary components.  The first is taking courses in Arctic Geophysics and Geology at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS).  The second component is working with the Norwegian Polar Institute (NP) on a project called EnviTools which studies the interaction of microwaves with snow and ice.  EnviTools aims to develop new methods for retrieval of cryospheric variables from Earth Observation (EO) data in order to increase the usefulness of EO data by environmental authorities and the research community. 

Just as my grant has two components, I will be spending my time between two places.  I spent my first semester in Longyearbyen, Svalbard taking classes in Arctic Geophysics at UNIS.  I also took a short trip to Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard in late September to help my supervisor at NP, Dr. Jack Kohler, with the annual fall mass balance program.  When not taking classes or working in glaciers on Svalbard, I enjoy the hospitality of the Norwegian Polar Institute and work at the Polar Institute in Tromsø.  I will be working at the Polar Institute in January and February.  Then I will return to UNIS to take a short duration course in Glaciology in March.  Following that course I will return to Ny-Ålesund in order to participate in the spring field season during April and May.  Although I will be helping out with several projects in the field, my specific task is to calculate and spatially map the water content on a glacier called Holtedalfonna from ground-based ice-penetrating radar data.  After completing the field season I will return to Tromsø in mid-May to tie up any loose ends with my research.  

This blog got started a little late so there will only be some summary entries about my activities first semester with some more frequent entries in the spring.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Enjoy!

Below are some pictures from my first few days on Svalbard.  Click on the photo for a larger image. 

My mom and I at basecamp near Esmark glacier.

The calving front of Esmark glacier.

Peering into a crevasse on Esmark glacier.