It is January and I have returned to Svalbard without the
sun. It will follow in a few months but for now the land is still dark except
from the bright lights of Longyearbyen on the coast connected with Nybyen
further in land situated at the base of two glaciers that I know to be there
even without the sight of them. The mine that served as Santa’s grotto is still
lit up on the hillside. The snow lying on the land is still here reflecting
what light we receive and with it completing the brilliant contrast with the darkness
of the sky and this creates the breathtakingly fullness of the moon and lights
of distant stars. The meeting of recognizable faces as others return and a
faint green tinge in the night sky draws a familiar end to my first day back on
Svalbard.
This semester I have chosen to study geophysics. Studying
the interactions between the air and the ice and the sea, and to study the
dynamics of the glaciers present today on Svalbard. Not my strength, in all
honesty it was an excuse to stay here longer. There are more hieroglyphs on the
chalkboard than on the Rosetta stone during one hour of our lectures. Though it
is very interesting when someone with a stronger background in physics asks a
question or proposes a correction to be made to the equations by saying a word
like epsilon; like that means something. When I see numbers and shapes that
make interesting calligraphy, others see a principle, a defining quality of today’s Arctic landscape, a piece of the modellers puzzle in an attempt to understand
how the world is changing. They say Van Gogh medically had to have seen the
world differently and Beethoven was partially deaf and would have heard his
music differently and these are innate senses given to those, others are
trained or have developed their own way of perceiving the world around them. It
is interesting to look on how other minds have been trained to see and
understand this sequence of numbers and shapes and to see a dynamic existence. I have been given the chance to understand
the physical principle about how today’s arctic world functions and possibly
how it will change and why recent weather conditions have unveiled. Though difficult
I am not alone in my attempt to understand these processes that shape this land
that inspires and changes people.
With the new season comes a new terrain, one suitable for a snowmobile or "scooter" as they are referred to here. Purchased before
Christmas it has hibernated outside the university since the previous winter. Now
however it lies crippled, unable to start it sleeps and waits until healed
enough to move. So many scooters that never had the chance to roam again now
litter the region and the snow gathers around their carcasses; hollow husks of
machines that once dominated the land. The engine got lazy, the dirt collected
and had to be cleaned and then with some new spark plugs she breathed again
exhaling a smoky mix of petrol and oil. Now my mechanical beast can roam the Arctic tundra once again. The first trip was to Templefjordan where the valley opened up revealing a great mountain with a plateau top called Templet. known for its geological stratigraphy, the striped pattern on the mountain side created a lovely picture. The second trip made was to Barentsburg a Russian mining settlement.
Built during the soviet era, this working coal mining settlement hosts a strange beauty. Much of the old style architecture is still present, some buildings with colourful soviet style murals painted on them depicting the Kremlin. With the icy streets so difficult to move on even the scooters couldn't get a grip, the coal and the dirt covering most of this industrious town and of course the watchful stare of Lenin with the words in Russian "Our Goal Communism" in the background is how I have pictured the Russian people of that era. Strong and independent looking at the world from another viewpoint. I hopefully will visit again to look around more closely at this town from another time and gain further insight into the people that worked there then and work there now.
Daily adventures and lessons here are a constant, helping to
differentiate the day to day more than the rising and setting of the sun; for only
now is that becoming a real natural occurrence as the sun is scheduled to hit
town on the 8th March.
I would like to finish this article by also mentioning that
a fellow student from SAMS studying alongside myself and other SAMS Arctic
students has been hurt during a weekend trip to one of the local cabins. This
accident sadly had her taken from Svalbard for further treatment. As I
understand she handled herself bravely during the accident and the wait for
help. We are all awaiting her return to Svalbard and her refreshing enthusiasm for
the work here at UNIS.
-Allan
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