First team return to Kanger tomorrow morning

A mix of white snow, darkening bare ice and blue melt streams near the snow line on the Greenland Ice Sheet last summer, in the vicinity of our camp.

The field team are currently packing up the camp, and getting ready to leave on the 9.30 helicopter to Kangerlussuaq. They sound quite tired after working so hard, but they sound excited about the sampling and science they have been undertaking. It has been a bit of an odd melt season in some ways (you can get more information from this site: https://nsidc.org/greenland-today/ ), with the melt coming late at our site. This has been great for us in characterising snow processes and environments, but tough on the field team since season is long, and just when the season is catching up with you, the melt comes in large volumes and quickly. I am relieved to say that they coped with the slush and wetness well. The photo above might suggest that the snow algae wake up and start growing quickly as the snow retreats, but it could also be the case that they remained at the surface in large numbers overwinter, protected from the winter cold wave by the snow. The field team will have the answers, and I can’t wait to hear what they are. I am pretty certain that there will be more posts and pictures from the team over the next week, so watch this space.