Having collected sediment cores and water samples from four lakes, as well as some catchment samples, our fieldwork on Disko Island has been successfully completed!
We were very lucky with the weather during our stay at the Arktisk Station which meant our fieldwork plan ran smoothly and to schedule (something that is not always possible when working in Arctic conditions!).
Here we have just finished our final sample collection at yet another sunny field site
Time for our final commute home from work to the Arktisk Station
Though the journey across the glacier was not so sunny …
Having completed our sample collection, our final day was spent packing up our equipment to take back to Kangerlussuaq and packing up our samples for safe storage before shipment back to the UK in a few weeks’ time.
Mark and Suzanne packing up our samples
On our last evening the Station Leader, Ole, arranged a party for all the scientists which consisted of a huge five course feast which we all contributed to. We were careful not to over indulgence in the merriment as we had to check in at the heli-port at 5am the next morning!
Farewell dinner party with Erik our snow-mobile guide at the end of the table. Team LAC-VEG is on the left and Akaaraq, our other snow-mobile guide, his wife and Ole are on the right.
Checking in at the heli-port at 5am (Suzanne is still smiling despite the lack of sleep and long journey ahead …)
While waiting for our flight from Aasiaat back to Kangerlussuaq there was time to get the laptops out and write up any final notes …
We were all sad to leave what had become our Arctic “home” (the journey to work and view from the office back in the UK just can’t compare) but we are looking forward to the arrival of our samples in the UK in a few weeks’ time so we can start our laboratory analyses and the next stage of LAC-VEG …
We would like to thank Ole, Erik and Akaaraq for their invaluable logistical help and support during our stay at Arktisk Station, and of course EU-INTERACT for our funding which made the LAC-VEG project fieldwork possible.
The LAC-VEG Team
Arctic Research 