Today's Journal
Today was my first day off since I have been at Toolik and I was very thankful for the chance to relax a bit. Of course I didn’t just sit around camp. Caitlin and I headed about 30 minutes south on the Dalton Highway to hike up to the Galbraith Aufeis. On the way out, we had amazing views of the Brooks Range.
Aufeis
In German Aufeis means, “ice on top”, which aptly describes the layered ice formation. An aufeis forms when warmer spring water flows up from the ground and freezes in layers. As the spring comes, these layers crack and thaw as you can see in the photos below. The blue hue to the ice was pretty incredible.
Ice candling
Candle ice is a form of rotten ice that develops in columns perpendicular to the ice sheets from the freeze-thaw cycle as the ice melts. The “candles” make a clinking sound as they break apart.
Question to Ponder-
We saw lots of interesting scat on our hike (only a science teacher would say this!) Who’s scat is this in the photos below? Check back soon for the answer.
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