I pick up the muddy piece of what looks like rotten driftwood. I turn it around and I see straight away that it's not a piece of musox that I hold in my hand. I still have a lot to learn about fossils, but this was a jawbone from some kind of predator. Three black big pointed teeth makes it unquestionable.
When the water level of the Chaun River rises, the water clean the beaches from loose material and vertical walls with frozen soil get exposed. Its like these walls are made for historical sampling.
The research station in the Chaun delta is located on a low island with many lakes and marshes. As the permafrost soils melts the lakes dry up, and some areas are now consisting of former seabed.
Den stora sovjetiska helikoptern sänker sig över tundran. Vi har suttit som klistrade vid fönstrena, men det är inte helt enkelt att hålla orienteringen. Vi har sett några små hus här och där under flygningen från Peveks flygplats, men jag lyckades inte få någon vidare överblick av forskningsstationen i Tjaunflodens delta, innan vi plötsligt står på marken. En i besättningen hoppar ut ur helikoptern och kollar landningsställen. Motorn tystnar och rotorn börjar sakta in.
On Wednesday, the Swedish, Slovak and Portuguese Arctic islands participants flew from Stockholm, via Saint Petersburg to Moscow. The next day it was time to start the long journey across Russia – from the capital in the southwest to Asia's northernmost city, the small harbor town of Pevek in the northeast.
