Hey all!


Regina here!
I thought it would be a good time for me to write some lines about what's been happening up here and of course the Arctic Technology course! I happen to be the only one (booo) out of the SAMS bachelors gang that is not doing Marine Biology, instead I am doing two modules called "Frozen ground engineering" (AT-205) and "Ice mechanics and loads on structures" (AT-211). Although my mind was set to Geophysics, I have enjoyed the modules so far! Have to say that AT-205 is sometimes a tad terrestrial for me... being separated from the familiar ocean and fjord depth profiles and constantly not having things being described as "marine" has been tough at times but I have learnt a bunch of stuff about the permafrost, snow, and arctic engineering! So far we have had a few short fieldtrips close to Longyearbyen, to the beach and Adventdalen checking out sites of coastal erosion and e.g. The ground temperature measurement station that also takes measurements of the CO2 content in the ground down to 1000 m! Pretty awesome. At the beach I found myself longingly picking up some Laminaria hyperborea and digitata and listening to the sound of the waves hitting rocks... Until I turned my gaze to the erosion crumbles which revealed the amazing structure of the layered permafrost. I mean, ice can seem boring at first, but anyone can see it creates some fascinating sights in nature for sure! It is a major component of pretty much everything that goes on at the poles.
 
In addition to the little field excursions, we have been testing soil and ice strength in the lab by doing compression tests with cylinders.

Of course, I also attend the ice mechanics course which very much involves a lot of sea icy things. We have studied the mechanics and physical properties of ice, and despite the heavy maths it has been fascinating. Next week we will be in the lab, and in few weeks we will be going out to Sveagruva, a still functioning mining town, to carry out some tests on the ice! The trip will be done on snow scooters which we had training for last week.

In addition to studying, there is plenty to do in Longyearbyen! I personally like to go indoor climbing, work in a local cafe, chill in the UNIS library (that might just be the comfiest library in the world, note to SAMS ed... We are in a desperate need of more nap spots and hammocks :p) or attend some additional short courses like the Northern Lights and Stormy Sun (AGF-216) that included an excursion to SvalSat (I did not attend but you can always ask Simon and Nick about it) and the Kjell Henriksen Observatory where the giant aurora radars EISCAT and SuperDARN are located. We also happened to see an amazing light show in the evening, to our lecturer's disappointment just as he was trying to tell us about how SuperDARN functions... Needless to say that the mass of students literally ran away from him to look at the aurora.

Sometimes the wind blows 21 kmh and you struggle to walk to Nybyen and you feel like that is enough expeditioning for one day... And sometimes you get to follow the lunar eclipse above the mountains from the side of Platåfjellet :) And SOMETIMES, there is an awesome chamber music festival in town!

Luckily right now the days are getting longer really fast as you can see the sun shine on the tops of the mountains on the other side of the fjord, and there are some exciting trips ahead.
Just a fraction of what's been going on up here but have to save something for the future too!

Until next time :)










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