24 April 2007

SnowSTAR took advantage of clear and sunny weather today to push another 114km closer to Baker Lake. They have now entered the lower Thelon River which widens dramatically into a series of massive lakes--Beverly, Aberdeen, Schultz, and finally Baker Lake. They have pitched Camp 40 tonight in a small, sheltered canyon along the north shore of Aberdeen Lake. Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to what looks like a Thursday evening finish in Baker Lake. We have two soundclips tonight and a written dispatch on something they have seen a lot of: ICE.

For those of you wondering about the bird in last nights photo--The bird is a white-phase Gyrfalcon

Click Here for Tonight's Soundclip from Arvids

CHUGIAK STUDENTS Click Here for Weather in Espanol

ICE

Aberdeen Lake, Nunavut

Camp 40 Location: 64 35'N 98 58'W
Weather: Sunny with Light Winds, AM temp -25C, PM temp -15C

Distance Today: 114km (70 miles)

Ice

Ice comes in many forms, shapes, and colors. We have seen some beautiful ice
on the trip. Plates of clear ice have been pushed up on rivers and lakes.
Blue and black ice beneath our feet where the winds have blown snow away.
Fantastic patterns of cracks. Even hummocks of ice where water pressure
underneath has forced the ice up.

It is lucky that ice floats on water. Most liquids become denser when they
freeze, so that the solid portion sinks. Water is an exception. The reason
that this fact is lucky is that if ice sank, then even large lakes would
freeze solid. The cold air would freeze the water on top, which would sink,
leaving more open water on top to freeze, and so on until all the water was
frozen. Because ice floats, it stays on top, creating a layer of insulation
that protects most of the water below from freezing. This allows fish to
survive the winter.

Do you have ice where you live? What different colors and shapes can you
see?