ARCTIC AUKS » Longyearbyen

Arctic Fossils and Farewells

nina — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:11:27 +0000

While in Longyearbyen one of the best things that we did was hike in search of the fabled fossils at the base of a glacier near town.

Here is Julia (below) and Derek (atop) a steep pile of scree.

Once we got the hang of it, we were finding fossils everywhere in that scree.
Evidence that Spitsbergen once looked like a very different place! Note the thumb for scale. Below is one of the typical sized plants in the area now–much smaller than that fossil leaf (raindrop for scale). This flower was growing amongst the fossils.

Most of the animal fossils we found were worms.

The following day, Julia, Derek and I flew from Longyearbyen to Oslo. Laurel stayed on to visit with friends that she had made during her winter in Longyearbyen 2 years ago.

Our last views of Spitsbergen:

Even though the field work portion of our work is done, we will keep updating this blog with our results and news throughout the year.

Last Days in Longyearbyen

nina — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:41:11 +0000

We spent our last days before flying home in Longyearbyen. Longyearbyen is a small city (about the size of Pomona College). The main industries there are mining, a university and tourism.
Here are Derek and Julia standing by the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS)

Julia and Derek in front of the water pipes that are above the frozen ground and have to be heated during winter.

We had a magical midnight hike around town in the falling snow.
Here is a view of an abandoned mine building on the hillside covered in a light dusting of snow.

The Norwegians get acclimated to cold weather early in life. The babies take their naps swaddled in their carriages outside.
Here is a baby sleeping outside the market in a light rain/snow (we confirmed that the carriage was occupied).

The little auks breeding around Longyearbyen had gone south long before we arrived. The only little auk we saw was the one that Derek made out of snow.