6 August 2008 Back in the Driftwood – Iceberg Day!!

A misty start to the day, and then sunlight sliding through thinning clouds. A few serious bright spots, blue water, and spirits were soaring. I was a little fatigued today after all the excitement of yesterday. Some good work done in the Driftwood Feature though. Most finds are still undercover, here are a few shots I slipped out.

Coal flakes - plasticy, light, and sometimes in piles. Other times, bigger pieces. Archaeologists ask questions. Why? Where did it come from? How did it get here? What was it used for? And much more….. Another important piece of the puzzle, where does it fit? A spall is a small fragment, or chip. This spall was probably caused by ice fracturing the rock. A human chip would have another little mark or two. I still enjoyed the find.

The real highlights for the day came from the icebergs and the fogbow.  Here’s a few random icebergs with a brown for the Live From IPY listener.

Here it is, a little iceberg of brown ice. Mostly sand, a little mud, all embedded in the ice. The locals said the brown ice is either from sand that stuck to the bottom before the iceberg flipped over, or it is from a bunch of animals hanging out on the ice. I asked the kids if they "discover" shapes etc… in the sea ice and they looked at me in the "You Have Got to be Kidding" way that only a High School kid can. I like the snow cone!! These Ice Stacks are probably about 12 feet tall. Distance and scale are distorted up here, one way or another, it was a nice looking ice chunk.

A few of the "brave” but foolish members of the crew went out on the ice, checking things out.

The guys headed out on the ice for a few minutes of hopping and jumping around. Rather dangerous, rather silly. I stated clearly that I did not think it was a good idea to be out there, just in case something happened. Here is one of the kids being a kid. Goofing around, somewhat dangerous, having fun. Paddle of choice = shovel

Our colleagues were not the only ones checking out the beach. More cool bear prints really show the lumbering nature of the animal.

Another sighting of polar bear prints today down on the beach. Rumor has it a bear was seen swimming out in the lagoon yesterday. Hope s/he keeps a safe distance from all the scientists and VIPs. Here's some pretty fresh polar bear trackes heading down the beach. I like the shot, if the image was reversed and the bear was coming towards me, I would be very worried.

The beauty and twisted nature of the world is still alive and well. Thanks for enjoying the journals.

The whole North Slope area starts smiling when the sun comes out. The fogbow is an upside down smile. Nature is celebrating sunshine and water too. I couldn't resist, a chance to put an upside down picture on the web!! The fogbow this way is strangely disconcerting.