A quick swim in a tarn

We are now back in Kangerlussuaq. Laura and I decided to check out the other road out of town today (there are only two!). On the way back, we took a quick dip in a tarn. It was warmer than expected but a bit muddy.



Tomorrow we catch the Air National Guard flight back to the States. Until next time!

Finished packing

We finished packing up the rest of the gear yesterday. We had 30+ boxes to pack and almost ran out of boxes near the end. Tomorrow is our last day in Ilulissat, and we plan to go on a short hike. The following day we will head back to Kangerlussuaq.

Last day of gear retrieval

We grabbed the rest of the gear from the ice sheet today. There is nothing too exciting to report about retrieving gear, so instead I will share some pictures.

This photo is from our flight onto the ice sheet. The margins of the ice sheet are heavily crevassed. The size of the Greenland Ice Sheet is jaw-dropping; the ice sheet spreads out in all directions. I knew the ice sheet was big, but it's a completely different thing to see it in front of you.

Several of our GPS stations were installed near a "supraglacial lake" (shown above). The prefix "supra-" means above, so the term refers to a lake formed on the top of the ice sheet. These lakes are sourced by glacier melt and form because there is no easy way for the water to drain from the top of the ice sheet to the bottom of the ice sheet. Some of these lakes periodically drain through the formation of a moulin (as I talked about in a previous post) and other lakes never drain. When these lakes drain, they drain a significant quantity of water to the ice sheet base, which can lubricate the rock-ice interface and potentially cause the ice to move faster. 

On our flight two days ago we took a detour to the terminus of Jakobshavn Glacier. This photo shows the calving face of the glacier. Ice is constantly breaking off the glacier in small and big chunks, forming icebergs like the one shown below.



That's one big iceberg! Many believe that Jakobshavn produced the iceberg that sunk the Titanic.

A day of packing and sightseeing in Ilulissat

Today we packed up the first set of boxes and then had some free time to explore in the afternoon.

Sled dogs are a big part of the Inuit culture here, especially in the winter when they are the primary form of transportation to go hunting. During the summer, the dogs are chained up in the fields. They get fed once or twice a day and often howl at night. They are not accustomed to human affection, and you are not supposed to approach them. Some of the dogs have doggy houses.

 

The sled dog puppies are adorable (and you are allowed to approach them). I am almost tempted to sneak one into my bag on the way home.



Since the sun never sets at this time of year, I've been staying up late to explore the town at night. The lighting is beautiful around midnight.

 

Here is a final photo of Ilulissat on our flight back to town yesterday.

First day of gear retrieval

We will have two days of helicopter time to retrieve all our gear from the ice. Today was our first day of flying.

 

Our GPS stations consist of a GPS antenna, solar panel, and a large black pelican case with all the electronics. These stations have recorded position every 30 seconds for the past few years, giving us a very detailed record of glacier motion. Unfortunately, the stations typically turn off in the winter months when there is no light to recharge the batteries, but they work roughly 2/3 of the time.



These stations were installed to better understand the impact of water reaching the bottom of the ice sheet. Water is denser than ice, so in certain places it can hydrofracture to the bottom of the ice sheet. When it reaches the bottom of the ice sheet, it can lubricate the ice-rock interface, reduce the friction, and cause enhanced slip (kind of like the impact of putting water on a slip-n-slide).



We call the places where the water hydrofractures to the bottom of the ice sheet "moulins". The above picture shows a stream flowing on the surface of an ice sheet. You might notice that the stream disappears into the ice. That's a moulin.

We collected roughly half of the GPS stations today and will pack them up for shipment tomorrow. The day after tomorrow we will head back up to the ice to collect the rest of the gear.

Flight from Kangerlussuaq to Ilulissat

We had a few more hours this morning to explore Kangerlussuaq before we left at 13:30 for Ilulissat. The other Laura and I borrowed some bikes and headed up into the hills. The road was quite sandy in places, which made for an exciting ride.

I'm always amazed by the things that you find by the side of the road. This RV was parked off in the hills with a "for sale" sign. I don't quite understand how an RV would be useful in Kangerlussuaq, because there appear to be no large roads out of town. Maybe that's why it's being sold.



The flight from Kangerlussuaq to Ilulissat was stunningly beautiful. We flew along the margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet and saw many outlet glaciers.

 

Ilulissat is a stunningly beautiful town. The town is situated at the end of the fjord that reaches Jakobshavn Glacier. Jakobshavn Glacier, which moves roughly 60 ft per day and is one of the fastest-flowing glacier in the world, produces a prolific number of icebergs that choke the fjord and the surrounding waters near Ilulissat.

Arrived in Kangerlussuaq

Today we took the Air National Guard flight from Albany, NY, to Kangerlugssuaq, Greenland. Since the flight is on a C-130, it is very loud and you must wear ear plugs for the entire flight. As a result, it is nearly impossible to have a conversation with someone on the flight, so I spent most of the six hour flight sleeping. That's pretty standard for me.

Kangerlussuaq is a very small town in West Greenland with a very large commercial airport.

Tomorrow we will fly from Kangerlussuaq to Ilulissat to start our fieldwork. In the meantime, here are some photos of the area surrounding Kangerlussuaq.


View of the town from across the river


Hills nearby Kangerlussuaq


Kangerlussuaq dump

On my way to Greenland!

I am on my way to Ilulissat, Greenland, to help out with a field project. Our research group at the University of Washington has had GPS stations out on the ice for the last few years, and we need to remove the stations and ship them back to the USA.

To get to Illulissat, I will take a commercial flight from Seattle to Albany, NY, and then board an Air National Guard flight to Kangerlugssuaq, Greenland.

I can't wait! Stay tuned.