Solfestuka – the return of the sun

My last blog described the commencing of the Arctic Spring as the sun was spotted for the first time. Now the sun is in the sky and Longyearbyen is incredibly different.

The south-facing snow-covered mountain slopes are lit pink on our walks into UNIS. By lunch time, the shadow created by the boundary of mountains has retreated further up the mountain slopes and continues to do so at an ever increasing rate.

Last week was “Solfestuka”, a week long celebration of the return of the sun. It commenced with a large sledge race across the fjord. The entire population of Longyearbyen (around 2000 people) turned up to spectate or compete. I was sure there were more skidoos than people!

We managed to hitch a lift from a band-wagon whilst others skied, walked, or rode dog sleds. It was a fantastic day and very funny as many of the sledges failed to finish. Our barracks sledge did very well, the fastest UNIS sledge.

On the Saturday, children from the schools sang songs and held a ‘count-down’ for the appearance of the sun between the mountains. The countdown finished with laughter from all as it was an overcast day with heavy snow.

But by lunchtime the following day, the sunbeams poured down over the mountain tops as we set off with course mates to spend the weekend in a student cabin in BjØrndalen which translated means ‘bear valley’!

The cabin was situated on the top of a ridge, at the bottom of a large valley looking out to the Arctic Ocean. The Ocean met large ice-cliffs and nunataks, which stared back at us from across the water.

We shared out all the necessary equipment and supplies amongst our packs and pulkas (sledges). Those who skied ahead of us had the coal and fire wood and we were welcomed by a toasty warm fire.

Adam and I cooked up a large chilli to satisfy our growing bellies. It took much longer than we anticipated as we had to melt snow to produce drinking water, and you need a lot of snow to make a reasonable amount of water. Conversation in the candle-lit cabin was mostly about the possible confrontation of a polar bear.

Then in burst Professor Doug Benn and Dr Nick Hulton, armed not with rifles but whisky and a guitar. It was a brilliant night and, along with Dr Ian Rutt who walked with us to BjØrndalen, they performed this years ‘Svalbard song’ about the Svalbard zombies and permafrost graves, it was very surreal.

Last week’s excursion was breathtaking as we crossed the sea-ice where I saw my first calving glacier, Tunabreen. It was a long trip on the back of a skidoo in very bad conditions but was worth it.

The white, flat terrain was littered with seals laying lazily on the sea-ice with the odd one poking their head up from their holes. It was an incredible experience for me to be stood on the sea-ice in front of a Svalbard calving glacier, especially as I have been spending the latter part of my PhD studying calving fronts, with the help of my supervisor Dr Adrian Luckman and remote sensing radar images.

The final week of the course was taken by another Swansea University lecturer, Professor Tavi Murray, and focussed on surging glaciers and monitoring techniques.

We visited another calving glacier, Bakaninbreen which recently surged alongside Paulabreen. Tavi has spent a lot of time in this area studying these glaciers and along with all the science had many fascinating stories about her terrifying encounters with polar bears.

This week I have said goodbye to many course mates, as I prepare to head further north to conduct some research along with Tavi, Adam and Alessio from the Swansea Glaciology Group.

I have also managed to find time to explore a moraine cave in a nearby glacier. After digging out the recent snow, which had accumulated over the entrance, we squeezed our way in. Exploring the cave was amazing, it was much warmer than outside and with our torches off it was pitch black.

On the roof of the moraine cave we viewed some amazingly delicate ice crystal formations.

It is incredible how much difference the sun is having here. Each day I am surprised by how much extra daylight there is and how the landscape is changing.

I look forward to experiencing 24-hour daylight.

Damien Mansell, 23, from Exeter in Devon, joined the Glaciology Group at Swansea University’s School of Environment and Society, in October 2007. His PhD research project focuses on quantifying the loss of ice from Svalbard tidewater glaciers to form icebergs, known as calving. As a result of climate warming Svalbard is experiencing an increase in annual melt, and such mass balance indicators have the potential to better predict the impact of climate change on sea level rise. Fieldwork in the north of Svalbard’s largest island will help meet his research goals and provide an invaluable opportunity to experience the location of his ongoing research project.