Permafrost, ground that is continually below 0C for two or more years, is a notable feature of the Arctic. The CRREL Permafrost Tunnel (drilled into a hillside) is a virtual time machine where ancient vegetation and fossils from long extinct animals can be easily seen entombed in the frozen ground. Ice wedges with an age of over a hundred thousand years are another amazing feature to be seen.
|
Many meters underground Misha K (with the flashlight) explains permafrost formation processes. We can see both the main tunnel and the offshoot tunnel (with yellow walkway) |
|
Hands-on experience (literally) with vegetation entrapped in permafrost that is well over 10,000 years old |
|
After being in the sub-freezing temperatures of the permafrost tunnel, everyone was ready for some sun at lunchtime |
Next stop for the day was the Super-Site flux tower which has been operated by IARC for over five years. This tower measures the energy, mass and carbon balance of a Black Spruce forest and aims to distinguish how much the upper canopy and understory vegetation each contribute to various fluxes.
|
The Super-Site Flux Tower has various instruments all the way up the tower |
|
Guo explains the instrumental set-up at the tower and answers questions about observational methods |
|
Vladimir, Marc and Sophia observing and probing the very wet and thick moss layer |
|
Mmm ... tasty blueberries direct from the Alaskan forest |
|
Andrea, Danica and Charles return from the forest with a bounty of blueberries |
A final stop was made at a section of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. This engineering feat transports oil all the way from the Arctic Ocean, across a full North-South transect of Alaska, to the port of Valdez on the Pacific Ocean.
|
The pipeline. The vertical silver items are cooling fins that form part of a thermosiphon (a device for keeping the adjacent ground cool so that permafrost does not thaw and damage the pipeline). |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home