12 August 2008 A Sunday Walk on the Tundra

Journal

This past Sunday gave me another opportunity to take a Sunday stroll. This time, I joined University of Texas – El Paso graduate student, Adrian Aguirre, on his coastal erosion monitoring project. The concept is pretty straightforward, yet the data collection and the mapping is rather sophisticated. The goal is to monitor the south end of Elson Lagoon, where waves and ice tend to cause the greatest erosion of the tundra.

We checked out the map and explained to the BASC driver, Nok, exactly where we were going so if something happened, he could come and find us.

Scientists Love Maps — One of the great joys of the Nuvuk Archaeology Project is the combination of science, history, math, writing, reading, and thinking. You can't get away from the wonderful connections that exist in this field. As one of the scientists stated, "It's more exciting out of the edge of the science field, where topics and studies begin to overlap. The frontier!!

To get started, we grabbed a ride out to the LRRS, home of the northernmost totem pole in the USA. Once we got loaded up, we started out over the tundra. I realized after a few minutes that I had forgot to tuck my Carhartt’s into the top of my boots. Oopsy, Carhartt’s get really heavy when they get wet, and once they are wet, you can’t go and stick them in your boots. Live and Learn!!

The Long Range Radar Station — Barrow is full of opposites. In this case, we trekked out past the LRRS on the way to the edge of the lagoon. In one case, you feel like you are in the wilderness, on the other hand, the radar station is always there, always watching. Shhh, watch what you say, .... :)

Once we got out to the lagoon, we geared up. I was the sherpa, I got carry the tape measure, the 2m extension pole for the GPSA Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system used to track the location or position of objects on the Earth’s surface. unit, peanut butter, jelly, bagels and the shotgun. The shotgun was in case of bears, Adrian was more than happy to have me carry that hunk of steel. Needless to say, it was not needed.

Land Meets Water. In Winter, Land Meets Ice — The edge of Elson Lagoon is one of the rich areas where two habitats meet. The salt water system crashes into the tundra system. Add some winter weather and frozen water, and a you have some changes to the edge of the lagoon. Scientists want to monitor the coastal erosion, is it changing? If so, how much?

Adrian heads off, walking along the top edge of the bluff. The GPSA Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system used to track the location or position of objects on the Earth’s surface. is over his let shoulder, as close as possible to the water. Adrian did this same procedure in the spring so the strategies are the same.

Heading Off Along the Edge of Coast — Studying the coastline erosion means that Adrian needs to walk right along the edge. Notice how the radio transmitter/ GPS is over his left shoulder, closer to the water for a more accurate measurement. The first time he measured the coastline, his professor had told him it was easy, just walk with one foot in the water and one on the land. Obviously not all that easy.

I started out more or less paralleling Adrian and then I got smart. I just stayed about 5 meters inland of him, cruising along looking for places where we would take measurements of the depth to permafrost along previously established lines or transects. How deep do you think the permafrost is? The ground at this level is permanently frozen up here, …., the deepest depth to permafrost was 40 cm or 16 inches, the shortest depth permafrost was 27cm or 11 inches. No wonder gardens don’t work all that well up here.

Up, Down, Up Down, …. — Adrian covered some terrain on this hike. As always out here, things seem flat and uninspiring, once you look close, everything is different.

Another part of the experiment was the angle of the slump or the soil and grass as it flew off down to the coast. The clinometer was a great tool for this activity.

Adrian Finding the Slope of the Bank — A clinometer is a measuring tool that finds the angle of something in nature. Tree people use it to find the height of trees, Adrian is using it to find the angle or slope of the bank. A neat tool, fun to use!!

I was too busy checking out the soil. Look at the roots!! Remember this is the same material that the native Inupiats used to build their houses, very thick, durable material!!

Organic Layers of Soils — I have seen a bit of gravel these last few weeks. Soil was a welcome change. I grabbed a piece, smushed it in my fingers, smelled it, very nice material.

We saw some amazing geology out on the tundra as well as right down where lagoon and tundra meet. I’ve heard of sand wedges but not ice wedges!! Check out the ice wedge and learn more about them at: http://arctic.fws.gov/permcycl.htm