On the way home/ På vei hjem

(EN) Today we spent most of the time in the vehicles, driving back from the floating ice shelf towards Troll Station. In front of us lies already the mountain range that will guide us back to Troll. The flight back to Cape Town is scheduled in five days from now and our minds are already drifting back to our life away from the ice. Behind us lies an intensive month of fieldwork on the Fimbul Ice Shelf. Considering that even with modern day logistics and technology the scientific outcome of such an expedition always bears uncertainty, this has been an extremely successful season. We completed our glaciological observations on two ice rises, revisited three oceanographic mooring sites and did a good deal “extracurricular” science, both on the central part of the ice shelf as well as near to the ice edge. But most important, we managed to keep up the team spirit at all times and will go home with a good feeling about our achievements of the last weeks. Thanks for that!

 

(NO) Mesteparten av dagen satt vi i kjøretøyene for å komme oss hjem til Troll. Foran oss ser vi allerede fjellkjeden som viser veien tilbake til stasjonen, og flyet til Cape Town går om fem dager fra nå. Bak oss ligger en måned med intensivt feltarbeid på Fimbulisen. Selv med dagens logistikk og teknologi er de vitenskaplige resultatene fra en slik ekspedisjon alltid delvis usikre. Tatt det i betrakting har dette vært en svært suksessfull sesong. Vi ferdiggjorde de glasiologiske observasjonene på to iskoller, lastet ned data fra tre oseanografiske stasjoner på den flytende isen og klarte å gjøre en del ”ekstra” arbeid, både på Jutulstraumen og ved iskanten. Men det viktigste er at vi klarte å holde stemningen i gruppen oppe under hele turen, slik at alle vil reise hjem med en god følelse om jobben vi gjorde. Takk for det!

 

Yesterday, we installed some GPS markers close to the ice edge, where we got a fantastic view of the ocean that is partly covered with sea ice Photo: Tore

 

Finally, we also met the local fellows where they belong. Most penguins live in colonies close to the sea, where food is available.

The Adelie penguins we saw here are not as tall as the Emperor penguins, but they are of fascinating temper. Photo: Tore

 

 

While working at the ice edge, we also met another goup of “locals”: Each year, there are several convoys going from the ice edge to Troll

to provide the station with fuel and other supplies that are brought in by boat. After not having met anybody else during the last month, we were happy to invite the transport team

for lunch into our luxurious kitchen module Photo: Tore

 

Place / Sted	70 km north of Troll
Time / Tid	27. Jan. 2012, kl. 19:00
Weather / Vær	Scattered high level clouds/ sprett skydekke
Pressure / Trykk (hPa)	836 hpa
Wind speed / vindhastighet (m/s)	1.4 m/s (gust 3.2 m/s)
Wind direction / Vindretning	East / øst
Temperature / Temperatur (°C)	-5.6 (measured) /  -9.4 (wind chill)

Posted by Tore Hattermann