Permafrost Outreach 2009

Manga Tunnel Man will emerge this summer!

Nansen, He is my best scientest, expoloer, great person forever! He did many great things, which I can not discribe here. But Fram is one of the big things.

He used this ship for crossing Arctic expediton 1993-96. It’s very heard to action by beleaving own theory and passion…

At the Fram’s Cabin, I could see men spend three years here during Fram expedition 1893-96.

Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat. Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his work as a League of Nations High Commissioner. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest personalities in the history of Norway.

Nansen initially started out as pioneer sports skier, and soon became interested in Arctic exploration. He led the first crossing of Greenland by ski, and achieved great success with his Arctic expedition aboard Fram. He later became noted as a zoologist and oceanographer, and was a pioneer of the neuron theory. He was also a distinguished diplomat, eventually becoming Commissioner of refugees for the League of Nations. He was married to Eva Nansen (died 1907) and was the father of noted architect and humanist Odd Nansen and the grandfather of Eigil Nansen (Wikipedia).

We back to Oslo. When we talk about Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, we can not ignor Norway.  Norway led world polar journeys.

Maybe Roald Amundsen is one of the famouse expoloers. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912. He was also the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage. So he was in Barrow, Nome, Teller early 1900s.

In front of Fram museum, “Gjor” this small fisherman’s boat was first boat through the North-west passage by Amundsen and his crew.

Northwest Passage

In 1903, Amundsen led the first expedition to successfully traverse Canada’s Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (something explorers had been attempting since the days of Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, and Henry Hudson), with six others in a 47 ton steel seal hunting vessel, Gjøa. Amundsen had the ship outfitted with a small gasoline engine.^[5] They travelled via Baffin Bay, Lancaster and Peel Sounds, and James Ross, Simpson and Rae Straits and spent two winters near King William Island in what is today Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, Canada.^[4][5]

During this time Amundsen learned from the local Netsilik people about Arctic survival skills that would later prove useful. For example, he learned to use sled dogs and to wear animal skins in lieu of heavy, woolen parkas. After a third winter trapped in the ice, Amundsen was able to navigate a passage into the Beaufort Sea after which he cleared into the Bering Strait, thus having successfully navigated the Northwest Passage.^[3] Continuing to the south of Victoria Island, the ship cleared the Canadian Arctic Archipelago on August 17, 1905, but had to stop for the winter before going on to Nome on the Alaska Territory’s Pacific coast. Five hundred miles (800 km) away, Eagle City, Alaska, had a telegraph station; Amundsen travelled there (and back) overland to wire a success message (collect) on December 5, 1905. Nome was reached in 1906. Due to water as shallow as 3 ft (0.91 m), a larger ship could never have used the route.

It was at this time that Amundsen received news that Norway had formally become independent of Sweden and had a new king. Amundsen sent the new King Haakon VII news that it “was a great achievement for Norway.” He hoped to do more he said and signed it “Your loyal subject, Roald Amundsen.”

(Wikipedia)

Viking village ruins are everywhere in Scandinavia. But there is nice one and nice mesium in Lofoten.

You can catch cod from hotel room at Svolbaer!!

I do not know how they do all of the fish head! maybe soup??

Lofoten, Norway is not just Glacier landscape, fjord natural beauty, but also world cod capital! Fishing industry suposed main one.

They eat Whale like us!

many seagal in the islands

A (actual norgian charater circle on the top of A), This must be a shortest town name in the world!!

Lofoten is really beautiful place. many fjords and U shape valleys.

Especily here, Reine, maybe a best place in Norway!!

We drive around northern Scandinavian countries to look at peat and wet lands.

Countries far from us but actually near by… this is Scandinavia. I flew from Fairbanks-St.Paul-Amsteldam-Frankfurt-Olso-Tromso yesterday. Many ride but direct distance is little over 3000km. There are several permafrost features in this region. Palsa is most eye catch landscape here in northern Norway, Finland, and Sweden.

I set one of the Matt’s study palsa to read temperature. Matt is Dr. Palsa at University of Helsinki.

Palsa is ice lense mound ususally located thick peat layer. I will more explain at Tunnel Man Episode 4!

Yes! The time for filming “Tunnel Man”!

This episode, we will show many landscape (geomorphology) by rap beat! You will know these process, just after listening this video!

Tunnel Man can see underground using him eye-beam!

We are back to Fairbanks! The last day of New Zealand, we visited Canterbury Museum. This is great museum, I strongly recommend to visit, if you are in Christchurch. Plus free admission! We put donation, this museum have much more Antarctic information than the IAC!

This is one of five first tractor using trans-antarctic expedition!

Early time Polaris snowmachine! They made in US and using Kohler engine.

Poor ski!

Engine is on back seat.

Here is Nansen Cooker! This is most fuel efficient cooker!  Center pot for cooking and surround pot making water from ice and snow. F. Nansen developed this for his Fram expedition (1893-1895). problem is big and many parts. We developed Aluminum new Nansen Cooker during our Antarctic Expedition (1992-93).

HERE is copy of the R.F. Scott’s last page of his diary. I thought they display original about 25 years ago I visited.

R. Amundsen’s  knife fro his South Pole trip. This almost swiss army knife.