Blogs

The barometer shows increasing air pressure, but outside it is still the same – relative air humidity must be at the condensation point. Everything is getting wet just by being exposed to the air.

Vårt "kontor" är nog ett av de finaste som finns. Vi sitter på isbrytaren Odens brygga, 6:e våningen, 30 m över havet, och vart vi än tittar ser vi bara packis, ibland med turkosfärgade smältvattenpölar.

Today we walked to the western side of the island to look at the Sutorfjella Conglomerate, a unit of uncertain age.

The weather is fine and our camp re-location is a ‘go’. It’s nice when the weather is good, because packing wet soggy tents, clothes, sleeping bags, etc., is NO FUN! After a few false starts, we manage to select solid ground for our second camp – it is a good location, both practical and scenic. Det här är del 2 av 2.

Wow! After a really long flight with a re-fueling break in Tura (not too common for a plane!) we arrived in Khatanga. The time change of 6 hours left many pretty zoned, but we still unload all the gear, get it to the hotel, and grab dinner before we settle into our hotel rooms. Work today involved 1) splitting our field gear out from the glaciology group, 2) buying and packing up food supplies, and 3) sorting our personal gear. My team of five is 'lean 'n mean', very efficient and finished with the job in no time – WE ARE READY TO GO! Det här är del 1 av 2.

Another beautiful morning, sunshine and no wind. We made the Zodiac ready for a trip to Grimaldibukta, to look for more high grade metamorphic rocks of the Pinkie Formation.

A bang woke us up in the night – Jarek and I jumping out of our tents with the rifles ready. But it was just the fox who is frequently visiting the camp area, this time pulling one of the lower trip wires...

The first thing today was some panorama photography in the camp, the second to repair the 12V charger for the computer – otherwise there wouldn't have been more entries here.

Monday came with chilly winds and fair enough weather, good for geological digging and documentation. We had a go at our previously discovered river section within eyesight from our camp.

Fredagens stora händelse var att vi mötte upp med professor Yngve Kristoffersen och hans svävare Sabvabaa. Han har varit strandad den senaste veckan på grund av ett generatorhaveri, vilket inneburit att han inte har kunnat ladda batterierna. Vi bistod med en ny generator och tankade upp svävaren.

Today it is again cold and windy. We decided to go for a reconnaissance trip through the late Neoproterozoic Taylorfjellet, Glenbergdalen and MacNairrabbane units.

At 8 am we met up at the harbour where the captain and owner of M/S FARM, Stig Henningsen, was already waiting for us. After stowing the remaining equipment and a group photo in front of the ship we sat immediately course for Prins Karls Forland. The weather was still calm but cloudy.

Den 31 juli kl 15.10 lämnade vi Longyearbyen och satte kurs norrut.

It's good to see that all of us were able to handle the guns and get remarkably good results for geologists who are used to hammers and not guns. I just hope we will not have use for it and only meet "peaceful" polar bears.

Waiting here at Tromsö airport for the continuation of the flight to Longyearbyen is the right time to start the expedition diary and an introduction to the research project NOA.

After the thunderstorm Sunday night the rain continued on and off on Monday until noon, and then blue skies again. All had a rest, sleeping until the brunch was served, and after that sorting up the mess after the storm. The evening was beautiful, comfortably warm and with a light breeze. We had our dinner outside on the river terrace; fried shir, boiled potatoes and melted butter, quite superb! However, it was hot again on Tuesday, more than 25 °C.

Most of the week has just been blue skies, beautiful Taymyr cumulus clouds over our head, and then changing wind speed; no wind mosquitoes, hard wind sand in our ears when working in sections.

Monday saw decent weather and we made good geologic work by logging two sections with marine sediments hosting a very rich mollusc fauna. This was the first time ever that I have found paired in situ Clamys islandica on Taymyr. This indicates that the sediments probably date back to the last interglacial, some 115–130 thousands of years ago. On Tuesday it was time for a shift to a new base camp. We knew about a good section about 20 km in a straight line further downstream and decided to aim for that spot as our Base Camp 2. A decent stretch for trimming in boats, with load and expedition members. It would under normal circumstances take us some 5–6 hours.

De svenska forskare som ska följa med på sommarens expedition med isbrytaren Oden spenderade två dagar i slutet av maj på Öckerö Maritime Centre. Där fick vi öva på att flyta i överlevnadsdräkt, bli upphissade i helikopterlina, träna på hjärt- och lungräddning och släcka bränder.

So, we are back in Khatanga and taking up the final field-work part of my project Taymyr revisited – a quest for Eurasian Ice Sheet margins and Late Quaternary megafauna extinction, funded by the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.