Submitted by John Wood on Wed, 04/27/2011 - 07:56

We corresponded a couple of years ago when I was on Mt. Erebus. Sounds like you guys have a lot of work to do in a short time. How close does the open water come to the shore at this time of year? How much is the ice moving now and how do you travel out to the edge to get samples? I will be spending two days in Barrow the first week of June, can you give me any tips about what to look for? Good luck, John

Lollie Garay

Hi John!Of course I remember you, I still use some of your Erubus images when we study volcanism :)
Yes, the week is short and although there are only 3 days of sampling, prep and processing work takes up the remaining time. Seems like as soon as we get a rhythm going, it's time to leave.
So, the ridging actually began while we were here in Jan as the ice is forming. Heavy winds and currents since then have pushed hugh amounts of ice onshore and really buckled the sea ice along the coast. Traveling by snowmobile on trails cut by the UMIAQ team is still really bumpy.
The open water is several miles out. Whaling camps are set up along leads past our site. We are not near the open water, rather, we drill holes into the ice to sample.
Sounds like you have another adventure as well! good luck, I'll check in on your progress!
cheers, Lollie