A proper Sound, with an entrance and exit, located at the southern end of Greenland. 100km in length, it is a stunning piece of geology forged by glacial action.
Keen observers will spot Palaeoproterzoic supracrustals soaring up to 2000m high.
Guardian of the Sound
In many places, glaciers from the Greenlandic ice sheet terminate at the waters edge.
Our first trip in the zodiac was to see one such glacier. The boats approach no closer than 400m due to the risk of a tsunami forming if an iceberg calves off.
Measuring distance off was deceptive with most people underestimating the range due to the perspective at sea level.
The ice has different opacity depending on how much air is trapped
Candice was very enthusiastic about ice
The ship does not anchor so as not to damage delicate seabed ecosystems, but instead, uses GPS controlled bow and stern thrusters to maintain position. (Dynamic Positioning)
80% of Greenland is covered in ice which can be up to 3,000m thick. Sea levels would rise by 7m if all this ice melted.
Ice has been present for the last 18 million years and the weight of the sheet has depressed the centre of Greenland to sea level.
Recent findings from core samples through the ice sheet have suggested that Greenland was free from ice about 1 million years ago for a short time.
The ice sheet is particularly sensitive to "polar amplification" whereby the poles experience a greater variation in temperature than the planetary average if there is a change in the "net radiation balance", that is, an increase in greenhouse gases for example.
A lot of information about the changing climate comes from the study of this ice sheet.
The sound is not more than 500m wide, with several tight turns for the ship to navigate.
Peps Log : Land - Greenland ahoy!
Early brekkie. We're in Group 6 togged up ready to go
V.Exciting!!
AMAZING!
Wonderful!
15:00 Lecture - When Greenland was green. Started first 20 mins and Tim fell asleep
16:00 Learn Greenlandic Tim asleep
17:00 Workshop - Whale ID Tim asleep
Great evening with Audrey, Colin and Mike - the PhD student story "and now we have music"
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