The research will occur in Greenland's vast tundra. The Arctic tundra is a stark landscape where the the soil is permanently frozen. This frozen subsoil is referred to as permafrost. Because of this frozen soil it is very hard for trees to grow, so instead the tundra produces lots of moss and woody plants such as blueberry bushes. During the summer some of the permafrost melts leaving the ground very soggy, but provides plants with the water they need to grow. This causes many marshes, lakes, bogs, and streams to form. During my public outreach I used jars of Jello with frozen soil on top to demonstrate permafrost. The jello represented the frozen soil and the actual soil on top demonstrated how the topsoil get soggy as it melted. I did not get a picture of these jars, but you can see them in the background in this picture (notice the mason jars with blue jello)....
Presenting at Joseph-Beth Booksellers
When I was in Alaska in February I was able to tour a permafrost tunnel.
Entrance to the Permafrost tunne. The entrance is in the building which go down into the ground
Brochure on the tunnel
This is a picture of the permafrost tunnel with all of the geographic features
We had to wear these beautiful hats...
The hard hats people have to wear when they go into the permafrost tunnel
The teacher (Emily Dodson) had put on her hard hat in preparation of going down into the Permafrost tunnel
and then walk into this little building...
Entrance to the Permafrost tunnel. The entrance is in the building which go down into the ground
Entrance to the Permafrost tunnel
The teacher (Emily Dodson) is at the entrance of the building which leads down into the Permafrost tunnel
Finally we ended up in the permafrost tunnel.
Underground in the Permafrost tunnel
The sides of the tunnel were frozen soil because the soil was frozen. It was still cold even though we were underground.
The Permafrost tunnel is still very cold even though it is underground. This is not like a cave
Since the walls were frozen (and had been frozen for a long time) there were bones frozen into the walls.
Old bone that is frozen into the side of the Permafrost tunnel
Plus, it was just really neat!
Up-close picture of the frozen rocks and soil in the permafrost tunnel. Other parts of the tunnel look just like packed dirt, but they are just as frozen as this picture