Yesterday we drove from Kolari to Kilpisjärvi along the Finnish-Swedish border. We did a detour to visit two abandoned Uranium mines east of Muonio. Uranium mines are interesting not only for the bedrock-till contact and the presence or absence of weathering but also for the possibility of dateable supergene minerals, which could give us an idea of the onset of weathering. We took some samples to send to our colleague in Munich.
We arrived right in time for dinner at Kilpisjärvi biological research station. Again, everything was greatly organized, with key and instructions in place -thank you to Pirjo Hakala. It is very luxurious to be on field work where breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided.
Today our main interest was in the contact of Cambrian Sandstone to the Precambrian basement below and the Caledonian nappes above. We climbed the mountain Saana, right at the edge of the Caledonian nappes. Luckily the weather improved to give us a great view. The contact of nappes, Cambrian and basement was not easy to assess. However, the comparison of the area with another area well known to me, at the edge of the Caledonides, W of Nikkaluokta in N Sweden, gave us a picture of the effect of ice erosion in relation to bedrock structure and the pre- and postglacial drainage systems.
