Data Collection Day 4
The team would like to express our most sincere gratitude to all of you that crossed your fingers for better weather! The winds have officially moved on, and the sun came out today to greet the team with warm rays and clear vistas.
The team rejoices about sun and warmer temperatures as we head in to the field!
We divide into three teams today at the field site, and decided to go for as long as we could into the afternoon given the nice weather. Plus, sampling is much more enjoyable and approachable now that the 60mph winds have ceased. Overall, data collection went better today than any other day so far. Luke and I ran the GPR on some new drumlins that are adjacent to the one the team is currently still sampling. Reba, Libby, Geoff, and Neal collected AMS samples at three different pits. They successfully collected 4 fabrics (approximately 150 individual samples) worth of AMS data. James and Tom made great progress with the Pre-Consolidation Samples and successfully collected 4 samples; our all time daily high!
Reba and Libby collecting AMS samples in Trench #2 at the head of the drumlin.
James and Tom collecting Pre-Consolidation samples in Trench #1 on the side of the drumlin head. They are on the right of the picture in the side of the drumlin.
Our lunch in the field was absolutely glorious. We took off our hats, unzipped our coats, and enjoyed our food with a wonderful lack of silt and debris being blown around in our faces. We probably could have eaten a little quicker if our smiles about the nice weather had not gotten in the way.
Here we are enjoying more sun and yummy lunch!
After lunch, sampling continued while a few of us excavated two new trenches for sampling to be done later this week.
Excavating our third trench at the inter-drumlin zone between two drumlins.
Geoff taking his turn shoveling after the jackhammer has broken up a hard layer of till.
At the end of the afternoon Luke, James, and I headed up Mulajokull's ice margin and up on the glacier to get scout some new spots to run the GPR later this week. We were welcomed up on the ice by quite the view of the valley, drumlin field, and the glaciated volcanoes of Vatnajokull in the distance.
My first ascent up to the top of the sloping toe of Mulajokull.
Here is the view of the drumlin field from up on top of Mulajokull. You can see the drumlins radiating out with meltwater lakes in between them.
We arrived back at camp to the warmest temperatures of the day. Some of us washed up in the lake, others did some laundry in the lake, and some of us just sat down and enjoyed the sun in our shorts and t-shirts, believe it or not! At the end of the day, we all sat down outside the cook tent for another one of Sandy's delectable suppers: Hungarian-style goulash. Bon Appetite!
A warm, healthy, dinner outside in the sun without wind. Not much else to say here…
PolarConnect Event August 7th!
Don't forget about the PolarConnect Event coming up in the next 24 hours! We will have live audio connection, a slideshow presentation about the research and life out here at Mulajokull, and will be available to answer any questions you might have. We all look forward to connecting with you at the PolarConnet Event!
Cheers,
Jamie