Adam Booth
For the best part of the last week, Alessio, Tavi and I have been dispatched to the field to assist with the study of an englacial meltwater channel (similar to the one we entered in Scott Turnerbreen glacier).
The study is the brainchild of Professor Doug Benn – convenor of our UNIS course – and, in recent years, he has developed an academic interest in meltwater channels into something of a hobby.
Doug’s theory is that the dynamics of two neighbouring glaciers, Bakaninbreen and Paulabreen, are influenced by the presence of a channel between them; we’re therefore on the hunt for englacial channels.
We’re staying in the mining town of Sveagruva, close to our field site. Every morning, we have an hour’s snowmobile journey to the glaciers, involving navigating sea ice and picking a way through rocky terminal moraines.
This journey was fairly intimidating on the first day – especially given some of the slopes we have to ascend when we arrive at the glaciers – but now it’s all in a day’s work for the intrepid field glaciologist!
Although we’re all part of the same study, Doug’s approach to channel surveying couldn’t be more different to Team Swansea’s geophysics.
We use a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system, attempting to detect any channels from the surface of the glacier (as shown in the picture below – Tavi is pulling the GPR antennas on a fixed sled, and I am towing a box crammed full of electrical connections, batteries and bits of the radar system).
Doug, on the other hand, gets his hands somewhat dirtier; he is accompanied by cavers Jason Gulley and Annalie Bergström, and they lower themselves through the numerous shafts and cavities in the middle of the glacier until reaching the channel at the glacier bed.
Once such cavity is called the ‘Great White Fright’ (pictured below), in reference to Jason’s reaction on first seeing it. So, we look down into the glacier whereas Doug’s team look back up at us.
Our two methods have clear advantages and disadvantages; Doug’s approach is obviously not for the claustrophobic, whereas Tavi, Alessio and I are left fully-exposed to the elements… and these are quite some elements to be contended with, since the air temperature has got down to -26°C.
If you want a taster of these conditions, put your sandwiches in the freezer before you try to eat them – although, on the other hand, we can heartily recommend frozen raisins!
Fortunately, the weather is fantastic and the scenery is incredible. Photo credit here goes to Alessio, since my camera has died! The first view is across Bakaninbreen glacier; the second shows Tavi snowmobiling over a moraine between the two glaciers.
Our fieldwork has gone really well – we’ve got lots of data to work with, and there’s a promising indication that we can indeed image Doug’s channels (including the Great White Fright) using surface GPR.
Of course, the fieldwork isn’t without its mishaps too… Doug and Jason were unfortunate enough to end up waist-deep in near-freezing meltwater (which required a speedy dash back to Svea to warm up) and I’m a little bit worse-for-wear after a brush with the cold – but this is all field experience, which will be invaluable in planning future field seasons.
Equally invaluable is the opportunity for me and Alessio to put elements of our now-completed UNIS course into practice. It’s also fantastic to be contributing to a genuine research objective and, hopefully, the contacts we’re making now will lead to further opportunities in the future.
We return to Longyearbyen tomorrow morning (22nd March), and then we head north for Ny Ålesund for another spell in the field.
Adam Booth, 26, from Stoke-on-Trent, is a geophysicist, currently in the final stages of his PhD project. He obtained a BSc in Geophysical Sciences and an MSc in Exploration Geophysics from the University of Leeds and, although his project is based at Leeds, he recently joined the Swansea Glaciology Group in the School of Environment and Society. Adam's research involves obtaining images of structures in the subsurface of the Earth, using a technique called ground penetrating radar (GPR). Currently, he focuses on imaging archaeological targets, buried at shallow depths in the ground. He is attending the UNIS course in Longyearbyen to gain a firm foundation in glaciological processes; following this, he is undertaking GPR fieldwork at Ny Ålesund as part of a study of Midtre Lovenbreen glacier.