Crevasses on Nelson Island glacier
Internet was very limited this season and I had to pause with my blog updates.. So with a bit of delay I continue updating my blog now.
On 20 February we went to the Nelson Island glacier. As many other glaciers around, including on King George Island, this glacier has been melting a lot during the last several decades leading to a big increase in the glacial lakes area. Our goal was to sample surface snow for analysis of the stable water isotopes and snow chemical and microbiological composition and if possible to take samples from a snowpit to look back in time. We arrived to the Nelson Island by Zodiac boat in the morning and had only five hours to do the work.
The approach to the glacier was along the rocky shore, climbing up snow patches and crossing melting water streams.
Photo: Meltwater stream from the Nelson Island glacier traversing a snow front. ©Irina Gorodetskaya
When we arrived to the glacier, we roped up as there were a lot of crevasses. We tried to choose an area with the safest path, however the crevasses were everywhere. We were in the end of the melt season and as there was no fresh snowfall in the last days we could see well the crevasses. However, with very active melting I was not sure how stable the ice was. After crossing three crevasses, I decided to not proceed. It felt too dangerous. We constantly maintained radio communication with the station. However, any rescue manoeuvres could be very complicated. The depth of the crevasses we saw seemed to be more than tens of meters and their width increasing.
We turned back and stayed near the ground edge of the glacier. And even there we saw the land collapse due to the melting permafrost right near another crevasse.
Photo: Land collapse connecting with a crevasse on Nelson island glacier. 20 February 2023. ©Irina Gorodetskaya
We could collect snow samples at the edge of the glacier where there were patches of relatively fresh snow.
Photo: Claudio, Sang-Jong and Irina doing snow sampling on Nelson island glacier. 20 February 2023. ©Irina Gorodetskaya
Photos: Measuring snow density and analysing snow structure.
The time was short and we had to hurry back before the arrival of the Zodiac boat from the station collecting all the parties doing measurements on the island. Other groups went to the ice-free areas and we were the only group on the glacier.
Photo: Descending the snow patch at the Nelson island glacier front. ©Claudio Durán-Alarcón
Photo: Zodiac boat picking us up to return to King Sejong station. ©Irina Gorodetskaya
Photo: departing from the magnificent Nelson Island glacier. ©Irina Gorodetskaya
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