It's been an eventful few weeks over in Finse; as much planning as you do for field work you can never be quite sure what to expect and the data you get out of it will almost certainly be somewhat different to what you set out to collect. This was my experience on our most recent field campaign to the icecap I study, Hardangerjøkulen. As much as I enjoyed having such a warm, sunny Easter weekend, this combined with a generally mild winter meant very slushy/absent snow conditions and rapidly thawing lakes, not ideal for snowmobile use!
As well as access issues, we were faced with a fuel shortage and very temperamental radar equipment. Despite all this I've now got plenty of data to play with and am keeping my fingers crossed that some of it contains some useful information.
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Midtdalsbreen with some new crevasses
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First thing on 23rd April we were off to a good start, Benny and I hired a car and set out for Hønefoss, just beyond Olso, where we would be spending the night. My first experience of driving on the right was made easy by the very swish, automatic Volvo V90 which felt quite futuristic to me with its abundance of touch screens and comfort adjustments. After a very dull 5 hour drive along Sweden's flat and featureless E18 highway we made it to Norway where the topography quickly began to undulate and the scenery became ever more breathtaking. Our stay in Hønefoss was fine, with surprisingly delicious pizza given the industrial park our hotel was located in.
Next morning we completed our drive to Geilo where we were to catch the train (with lots of heavy equipment) to Finse, which is inaccessible by car. Loading 5 heavy boxes and all of our personal gear (including a set of skis) on to the train was a bit of a mad rush but we made it and finally arrived in a warm and sunny Finse. Greeted like old friends by Kjell Magne and Marit (the lovely Norwegian couple who sort the food and logistics at the research station) we piled on to the back of the snowmobile and made the short trip to our base for the next 10 days.
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Emma and Katie in the snowmobile trailer
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Within a few hours we were joined by the cohort from the UK, Emma and Adam from Leeds and Katie and Brynn from Aberystwyth. Emma and Katie are also doing PhDs which involve studies on Hardangerjøkulen and Adam and Brynn are their supervisors; such a good fun bunch to spend a couple of weeks with. As ever, Marit had laid on an incredible spread for our dinner. Each night we were spoilt with a 3 course dinner of a good hearty soup followed by various forms of salmon, reindeer or moose and a delicious home made desert; very welcome when we'd been out dragging equipment across slushy snow all day (and even when we'd been stuck inside processing data!). Breakfasts were equally wholesome and particularly Norwegian with caviar topped boiled eggs, reindeer and moose salamis, porridge and brunost (a sweet brown cheese), prawns, pickled herring, waffles and of course, yet more salmon.
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Siobhan (red) and I collecting GPR data
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Anyway, enough about food (sorry I can't help myself!). Come Wednesday morning it was finally time to get going and collect some data. Benny and I were to be doing ground penetrating radar surveys over some of Midtdalsbreen's moraines. This involves wearing a very heavy rucksack and towing a 4-7 m 'snake' behind while walking along the top of the moraines and then back and forth, perpendicular to the crest. Pretty tiring work generally and made extra tricky by the thick, wet snow that covered the ground; we were very thankful to have found a pair of old snowshoes in the station shed. Once we had a decent data set for 2 prominent moraines, Adam came to collect us with the snowmobile and it quickly became apparent that our route to the glacier would soon be impassible. The lake that must be crossed to reach Midtdalsbreen was looking very wet so Adam had to zoom across to avoid getting stuck in the pools of water. This was particularly scary as I was travelling in the trailer along with all the equipment, meaning each time the ice gave way (an increasingly regular occurrence by the end of the end of the field campaign) I was very aware of just how close I was to an icy plunge. Luckily, each time this happened, Adam managed to accelerate enough for us to make it to the other shore in tact, with only a face full of slush rather than a full dunking.
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Emma's seismic survey
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The defrosting lake combined with poor visibility meant a few days stuck in doors which was very frustrating and particularly worrying for Katie and Brynn who had left a lot of heavy, expensive drilling equipment on top of the ice cap. This did at least give us a chance to prepare some presentations for a seminar later that week where scientists were presenting the work they are doing at Finse, anything from tracking lemmings to calculating ice density on the ice cap. On the day of the meeting we were finally blessed with clear conditions and managed to scout out a slightly more solid route over the lake so missed most of the presentations as we were out working until 7 pm. We thought we'd got away with not having to present but after dinner we were approached by the organiser who suggested a 9 pm time slot for our talks. Not sure how alert our audience was but the talks seemed to go smoothly.
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Ramnaberget looking a bit melty
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With our new route in place and the arrival of my field assistant, Siobhan (a whiz in seismics and exceptionally athletic PhD student from University of Leeds), we were able to get out and collect some more data, including seismic surveys over the moraines we'd done radar at and a dense grid of radar surveys over an area of hummocky sediments (particularly exhausting). As well as studying Midtdalsbreen's sediments I'm also interested in a proglacial lake over the other side of the ice cap. To reach this site requires Kjell Magne's extensive snowmobile experience as we have to go up and over the top of Hardangerjøkulen. This was a fairly simple exercise last year but a far more convoluted route had to be taken this time to avoid the many meltwater streams that were opening up. Finally, we made it to Ramnaberget (the lake site) and we quickly realised the challenges were not over. The lake was covered in a thick layer of very wet snow and after a few hairy attempts and a very close shave, Kjell Magne admitted defeat. We still managed to tow a few radar lines along the very edge of the lake with very promising results and decided to return when the forecasted cold snap arrived at the end of the week.
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We did manage a CMP (velocity) survey at the lake site
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The cold snap did finally arrive. This was particularly welcome after an eventful start to a surveying day at Midtdalsbreen when the snowmobile got stuck in a pond of slush where every step led to a bootfull of icy water. We finally managed to dig the snowmobile out and had some dry socks sent up to us but our feet were quite wrinkled and rather chilly by the end of the day. Particularly as on the long walk across to the snowmobile's limit on the way back I managed to go through the ice, with snowshoes and lots of heavy equipment on, meaning it took a few minutes before I manged to get my foot unstuck so I could slosh my way along the rest of the walk.
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Kjell Magne and Siobhan with the CMP equipment by the
calving front of Ramnaberget
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The temperature dropped to around -10 C at the front of Midtdalsbreen and -15 C up on the icecap so our route there was more solid and a little less risky. Of course, this didn't mean plain sailing from here though, while the ice favoured these cold temperatures, the radar equipment was not so happy. Our second attempt at surveying the lake site was particularly frustrating. Kjell Magne took Siobhan and I (Benny had gone on a skiing holiday by this point) on a long, cold trip up and over the ice cap and while he went to check on the ice conditions (still not good enough for the snowmobile but we could walk over it with the equipment), Siobhan and I set up the radar system. Turned it all on and found no signal. I tried replacing all of the batteries and changing every setting possible (getting very numb fingers in the process) but nothing would work. All that could be done was to pack up and make our way back to Finse, cursing the equipment all the way.
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Relieving cabin fever with some sledging
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Once back in the warm, the radar equipment was back up and running again so we decided to try and get a few last surveys in over Midtdalsbreen on our last day, but alas, yet again the system was not happy with the chilly conditions and that was that, time to pack up and call it a day. Had a final dinner with Kjell Magne, Marit, Adam, Emma and Siobhan, (Katie and Brynn headed home a few days earlier) then prepared for the train over to Gol, where I would meet Benny and his girlfriend Josefin the next day, ready for the long drive back to Stockholm.
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I think I need some more practice!
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The series of unfortunate events was not quite over yet. Josefin and I had to pile all of the equipment off the train in Gol while Benny stood by looking somewhat worse for wear. Turns out, 5 minutes into the first run of his ski trip he had fallen on ice and badly damaged the muscles in his back and even now, one week on, he can only just get out of bed unassisted. We tried to have minimum stops on the journey back and Josefin and I shared the driving for the 9 hours from Gol to Stockholm. Finally made it to Stockholm around 10pm, quickly unloaded the equipment then collapsed into bed.
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Peat bog coring with the students
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Despite the many obstacles and misadventures involved with this field season, I still had a great time out in Finse and have (hopefully) got some useful data out of it. Taking a proper look at what we collected will have to wait though as I'm now into my first proper teaching stint. On Thursday I was helping students do coring in a bog (something I've never done before myself) and on Friday I gave my first lecture and computer practical on ground penetrating radar. The practical and a couple of days doing radar surveys with the students in the field next week are all very improvised as Benny was meant to be leading these parts of the course but due to his bad back he's off work for a bit so the students will have to put up with me muddling my way through. Here's hoping the radar decides to play ball this time!
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