Kangerlussuaq Photos

A bit about the photos, Kanger and our sample sites:

Ice sheet melt water drains into streams and rivers that travel along the edge of the ice margin, west across the tundra and bottle necks at the spillway in town, creating massive rapids that carry tons of sediment through the constriction before dropping its load just down stream where the river bed widens and the water becomes calm.  In the span of one half mile, a raging river, carving flutes and scallops in the solid rock, slows to produce a wide sedimentation zone where silica precipitation preserves 3-8,000 year old fish in fresh sedimentary rock.

Looking east from the fossil beds, towards the spillway, along the cut banks of the river 

Mudcracks near the fossil beds

Sub-glacial sample site. Flows believed to have a sub-glacial component are at the base of the ice, center Right of the image.  Cables at the left of the Image above, and shown below, are used for the boat crossing.

Cable and rope anchors include, drilled bolts, a lassoed moraine and two iron posts set 10 feet into the ice sheet.

Sam and Kyla (Dry-) suiting up for the river crossing.  The river water is around 6 deg C, the glacial outflow, surface and basal, are around 0.1 deg C.

The original, terrible, 1950s(?), inflatable boat used to cross the river to reach the glacial outflows. Hence the Dry-suits...

Looking into the ice cave/channel carved out by the glacial outflow.  The scalloped roof has a bright blue glow.

Hammering the iron stake anchors into the ice.  Rapid melting exposes the stakes and requires weekly hammering.

But the stakes are curling under sam's sure strikes!

This is me, breaking up the ice that was preserved under "Al foil hats" made to slow down the melting around the stakes.

We hiked onto the ice sheet to observe the local ice drainage systems.  A river running along the terminal moraine disappears into the ice and may contribute to the outflow we sample.

Ice sheet rivers, everywhere!  The more time I spend on the ice, the more I fall in love with it.

waterfalls, rivers, pools, moulins...

Kyla, stylin' it on the ice sheet