Outside SANAE IV. Photo: Jon Harbor At each nunatak site we spent time looking for evidence that the ice sheet had formerly been thicker and covering the rock. Here we have a fresh sample in the bag. Photo: Jon Harbor On the ridge on one of the...
Sarah and Robin on the mountain top. Photo: Jon Harbor Glacial striations, elongate scratches on bedrock surfaces, made when rocks at the base of the ice are dragged over the underlying bedrock. Photo: Jon Harbor Erratics, rocks carried by the ice...
On Thursday afternoon the helicopters arrived. Their original plan was to fly to Troll and pick up passengers, but clouds and low visibility changed the plan. Instead it was decided that we would deploy our first fuel supply. Jennifer followed...
Jon, Robin and Sarah. Photo: Håkan Grudd During the first four weeks of the expedition we have had unusually many storms. One of the researchers we met here at the South African station SANAE IV is Professor Ian Meiklejohn. He has spent twelve...
I går gjordes en planerad förändring av gruppens sammansättning: Derek anlände och Jon åkte hem. Bytet gjordes med ett mindre flygplan, en Twin Otter, som gjorde ett kort stopp här vid SANAE IV strax efter kl 14. Dereks resa hit från Glasgow tog...
The other day we had a long-awaited change in the weather. Now we have had two days of brilliant sunshine and low winds. The temperature is between minus five and minus ten degrees Celsius, much like a nice May day in the Swedish mountains! On...
With a few days of good weather the team had a very productive time at one of our most northerly field sites, Straumsnutane. This site is on the west side of an ice stream (a “river” of much faster flowing ice that drains ice from this part of the...
Our camp south of the Borg Massif. Photo: Håkan Grudd We have driven past the entire Borg Massif and even down to the Kirwan Escarpment. Conditions have been good almost all the way down here. It is not until now we’ve encountered the...
The MAGIC-DML team at a nunatak. Photo: Andreas Bergström ”What do you want for your birthday?”, I ask Sarah, who turns 23. ”That my right foot gets warm,” she replies. Antarctica is the world’s tallest, coldest,...
Going up to Høgskavlen. Photo: Håkan Grudd Yesterday we drove our snowmobiles up to the Høgskavlen Mountain, 2 256 m above sea level, and 850 meters higher than the location of our camp. Høgskavlen is a glacier-covered plateau lined with small...
Sampling at the south side of Gronehogna. Photo: Fredrik Hägglund The expedition doctor with a emergency trauma bag on his back. Photo: Håkan Grudd Warm drill batteries and a warm researcher! Photo: Fredrik Hägglund Winter is coming, the sun is...
Ta en titt på din gamla jordglob. Platsen MAGIC-DML är på nu finns antagligen inte med, för där fäster sladden till lampan, som ska lysa upp resten av globen inifrån. Tittar du på din världskarta på väggen så ser Antarktis helt förvridet ut; den...
Sampling at the beautiful Jekselen peak on Wednesday. Seven nice rock samples were collected. From the left: Carl, Andreas, Jenny, Robin, Derek, and Sarah in the front. Photo: Fredrik Hägglund One differential GPS is set up in Base Camp and the...
Då är vi så sakteliga på väg hemåt! Just nu är dock vår expedition utspridd på två kontinenter. Våra fyra forskare flögs ut från Troll häromdagen och är redan i Kapstaden på väg hem, vi fyra logistiker är kvar i Antarktis och väntar på att få...
The Arctic is remote, far from most of human civilisation but disproportionately important on our warming planet. The central Arctic is only rarely touched directly by any human, but rising CO2 and long-range pollution are changing the delicate...
We are now in the final preparation phase, ready to departure from Svalbard. Mattias Petersson, Captain of icebreaker Oden, is on his way to post all votes for the Swedish general election that will occur during the expedition. Captain Mattias...
Are you wondering where the icebreaker Oden is right now? Then there’s a way to find out! The Bolin Centre for Climate Research at Stockholm University has a map showing Oden’s route and position in real-time – you can find it here!...
”It’s only 36 hours since the first sighting of sea ice, but the icescape has already changed six or seven times. First it was isolated floes, separated by oddly smooth water. Then came big angular chunks around half a metre thick and ten...
The marginal ice zone. Photo: Michael Lawler On Wednesday, August 1, at about 3 PM Swedish time, we set out from Longyearbyen with relatively calm seas, headed north. About a day and a half after beginning our journey, we reached the marginal ice...
”As the ship moved, my troubleshooting began, which involved testing a variety of things and solving a number of small problems that presented themselves. Since this is the first expedition that I’ve been on without having a supervisor on...
