Cancelled flight to ice base

Yesterday our scheduled flight to the ice base was cancelled due to maintenance work on the plane; and since then we are standing by. That is part of the life here...waiting for good weather and readiness of planes. Within one hour we could be gone though. Everyone of us are ready and can wait to head out on the ice. Waiting evolves in a rollercoaster of anticipation and disappointing news.

Despite the coldest day since our arrival, I jumped into my Arctic suit and headed out this morning. As a dog lover I put my tele zoom on my Olympus camera for good shots of the sledge dogs around Resolute Bay. It seems they have very different lifestyles among themselves. Nevertheless they share the same character with the dogs we know from home and neighbourhoods...the best friend of man.

Calm but vigilant

                                    

                                  Remarkable adaption to the extrem cold

                Hauling tells you about the close origin of the sledge dog - the wolf

                                        Did someone knock on my door?

Please wake me up at lunch time !

Despite the disappointment of cancelled flights, I certainly enjoyed capturing the life of our best friends in Resolute. I hope sending the next news from the ice base. 

Imminent Take-off to the ice base

Within the next 1-2 hours we will depart from Resolute for the flight to the ice base. The weather is clear and sunny, -34 deg Cels. I just came back from the local store and the cold is biting on the skin. I even got my last minute things at the store...cans of lighter fluid for a table-top torch to seal glass ampoule for the safe storage of water samples. I am ready...Thank God for getting things back on track with restless days wondering where my luggage was. Thanks to all my friends for their thoughts and prayers.

The Explorer team of the expedition took off this morning to be dropped off at the geographical North Pole for their adventure walking south to Greenland...pulling their sledges over the ice for hundreds of miles. They went through the rollercoaster here in Resolute waiting for good weather and ice conditions at the Pole...many cancelled and postponed flights reached an emotion hard to imagine.

I had some troubles to get access to this blog site...please be patient, I will try to update it as often as I can. I shall report again tomorrow with a report of the landing on the ice and arrival in the base.

Good news...

This morning I received the news from the CatLin Headquarter in London, that my luggage made it on the plane from Ottawa to Iqaluit, and later in the afternoon further to Resolute. At 7.30 pm I picked up my luggage from the airport after more than 3 days of tracking, arranging and chasing United Airline. Claire from the headquarter played an important role by having a contact from FirstAir in Ottawa loading my luggage on the plane.

It is still uncertain when we fly on the ice. There is a chance that it may happen tomorrow. It is a complicated interaction of different factors including talking to pilots, ice conditions for landing, and weather forecasts for Resolute and the ice camp site. Furthermore, CatLin plans also to drop their explorer team at the geographical North Pole from where the team of four walk back towards the Canadian Archipelagos pulling each a 80 to 100 pound heavy sledge. If the weather over the North Pole is good, the explorer will be dropped first meaning the ice camp team have to wait for 1-2 days.

Having my luggage now I spend the night of checking gear and sewing a furl on the hood of my new Montane suit. The whole team is now very excited to leave Resolute to our final destination 78°45’N 103°30’W. Latest report of actual temperature: -29 deg Cels.

First hike testing gear

In the morning we spend time to settle our personal gear - better my teammates did and I kept chasing United Airline to deliver my luggages to Ottawa. After receiving information that my luggages will arrive in Ottawa in the afternoon on flight 7697, my attention was quickly drawn to the fact that this flight depart from Chicago. After a few other calls it was confirmed...United sent my luaggage from Washington DC to Chicago, but I know now that they got it back on track to Ottawa where it arrives this afternoon. New challenge is to ensure United transfer it on time to First Air for tomorrow's flight to Resolute.

Despite my missing gear, I joined the team for a moderate afternoon hike to the top of a hill which protects Resolute Bay from northern winds. Jamie passed me some of his clothing for the time I wait for my own to arrive. However, it was a nice afternoon with a temperature of about -20 deg Cels and we were warming up quickly climbing up the hill. After we reached the first plateau, a light wind gave us a little chill but our new Montane suits did a great job.

                              Fig.1: Our first hike leading to the top of the hill

                                 Fig.2: Hiking up the hill

I will spend the evening trying to find out if United passed my luggage to FirstAir as it is a crucial step to get hold on my gear in time. My wife has taken over the job to call the airport of Ottawa getting any information which might be useful. Hopefully by tomorrow I have good news.

Arrived in Resolute Bay

After another day of travel, I have reached Resolute Bay together with two teammates, Ceri and Jamie. We landed at 6:45 pm on the 31st March. Resolute Bay is in the state Nunavut, and the second northest community of Canada [red dot on the map]. The population counts about 230 people and is one of the smaller communities up in the Canadian Arctic.

Map of Resolute Bay [red] and the CatLin ice camp [green]

My luaggage did not make it to Resolute as it got already lost  at the airport in Washington DC. My bags contain crucial cold weather clothing and science equipment. I spent hours on the phone to the airline last night trying to locate the bags and to arrange its transfer to Ottawa and then to Resolute Bay. Only after my arrival in Resolute I got the news that it is in Ottawa and hopefully now being transfered to FirstAir carrying it to Resolute Bay tomorrow.

We will spend few days here in Resolute Bay organizing, packing and final testing of gear and science equipment. Our flight to the ice camp site [green dot on the map] is planned for Monday, the 4th April if weather permitted. Currently, the weather is nice...-20 deg Cels and light wind. That's the way we like it.

Snow in the Ocean

In the world’s oceans, from the Arctic to Antarctica, there is a natural phenomenon known as marine snow. Tiny bits of carbon-rich matter bind together and sink down into the oceans depths, transporting carbon dioxide from the air to the bottom of the sea.

Marine snow is enriched in sticky clumps of carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are made by single-cell organisms called phytoplankton that live lower in the ocean to stick together in colonies. Eventually the carbohydrates break off the phytoplankton and clump together forming jelly-like particles. Those particles are the glue that binds marine snow together. There is concern that as the ocean acidifies, from increasing levels of CO₂ dissolving in seawater, the amount of material excreted by phytoplankton may also increase. This, in turn, could cause more glue to assemble and consequently to enhance the formation of marine snow. Marine snow does not only take away carbon we pump into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, but is also an essential food source for the deep sea. For this reason marine snow has the capacity to dramatically alter the natural cycle of the oceans and the environment for marine life.

I am preparing now for my imminent departure to do research on ocean acidification on the Arctic ice. During my experiments I will take phytoplankton into the future by exposing them to CO2 levels forecasted for the end of the century. I will investigate the response of phytoplankton in terms of carbohydrate and subsequent glue production. I will “incubate” CO2-adjusted natural seawater in bottles placed in ice holes to trigger the growth of phytoplankton. Regular sampling from the incubation bottles will reveal any changes in the fate of carbon compared to unadjusted seawater.

                                 Base camp of CatLin Arctic Survey in 2010

All this will happen nearby an ice camp in proximity to the magnetic North Pole, which will be established by the UK-based Catlin Arctic Survey. I will use this blog to report about life and work in the camp. Temperatures down to -40 Cels. are not uncommon making life and work in the camp extremely difficult. However, I am confident of a good outcome of my research as I have completed preliminary work during the CatLin camp in 2010, primarily to test sampling and some preparatory steps to preserve samples for later analysis in the laboratory.  Preparedness means success in the unforgiving and harsh Arctic environment.

 

Many studies have investigated the potential impacts of ocean acidification on marine life, but less on possible changes in the fate of carbon. Our research at the ice camp will generate data on an under-researched field, and inform climate modelers on a potentially unaccounted for carbon sink.