As a result, Day 2 was epic. Alessio and the students started
off by preparing a permafrost sample. Each student prepared a mixture of soil
and water and put it in the freezer. With this they were simulating ice rich vs.
ice poor permafrost. After “making permafrost”, the students headed out to the
NGEE Arctic field sites on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO). This
time Alessio tried to focus their activities on plants and animals. They discussed
the importance of water, and how surface hydrology is conditioned by the ice
wedge polygons discussed the day before. Kids love being outside. It was easy
to see how the distribution of plants was controlled by water with sedges and
forbs in water inundated areas with grasses and short woody shrubs on the drier
upland areas. Not many animals were present, but Alessio and the students talked
about how birds and other animals might nest on areas that were “high and dry”
as opposed to areas that flooded easily.
In the afternoon the students did something very special.
David Masak, a smiley man in his fifties who work for Ilisagvik, asked his dad
if they could see his meat-cellar, four meters below ground, dug in permafrost.
This was quite an experience, for Alessio and for the students. The cellar was
dug in 1969 with an icepick, it took 3 months to dig, and since then, has
provided shelter for the wild game. The students truly enjoyed the experience.
First they could touch permafrost and observe it very closely. Second, they obtained
a glimpse of Inupiat culture, and finally third the roof of the cellar was full
of beautiful hoarfrosts which fascinated many of the students.
Alessio writes that it was a long but good day. Everyone had
fun. Tomorrow is another day.
