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Kvadehuksletta 30. 8. 2017

Taking a boat ride to Kvadehuksletta, which lies 10 km northeast of Ny-Ålesund.

Too many ships in the harbour so they have to deliver tourists by small boats.

Stuphallet from the boat.

The boat ride was getting rougher and rougher.

Defying the water spray.

Prins Karls Forland peaks unveiled in clouds.

The waves were eventually to high to land at Kvadehuken so Ivar's order was return to the town.

And we had to take backpacks and go by foot.

First sorted circle along the path.

A big solifluction lobe.

Stuphallet. Greenness is again coming from nesting birds and their excrements.

Blomstrandbreen

Walking on raised beaches.

These beaches were uplifted for 25 m since the last ice age because of the isostatic adjustment.

Miniature debris flows.

Active coastal erosion.

Pointy mountain on Kapp Mitra.

Rock glaciers under the steep slopes of Stuphallet.

They are all inactive.

Another solifluction lobe?

Arriving at Geopol hut after 3 hour hike. Radmil is hiding from cold wind.

Bernard started here his measurements on sorted circles more than 30 years ago.

Soil convection causes fine material to subduct under the coarse and vegetation stays at the edge.

Checking different sites at Kvadehuksletta.

Bedrock is permo-carboniferous dolomite so the coarse material is bright.

Ivar and Bernard.

Stranded vegetation on the edge of coarse material.

Buoyancy experiment. The coarse material sunk into the ground in few years after being loaded with stones.

Especially regular circles at this site.

Nylon sticks for measuring ground movement.

Some with bigger diameter.

Different, non-circle, pattern ground forms elsewhere.

More sticks to be measured.

Strand flat of Kvadehuksletta from the Geopol cabin.

Different patterns close to the water.

Sufficient soil moisture is crucial for patterned ground formation. So it forms close to water table.

Schetelig Mountain on the left and Kiær Mountain on the right.

Circles and Prins Karls Forland in the distance.

Last look at the cabin, before leaving back to Ny-Ålesund with Ivar.

This time via shortcut over the plateau.

Sunset that lasted for three hours.

Kvadehuksletta. The sacred place for patterned ground enthusiasts :)

Approaching Mørebreen.

The exposed ice in the moraine will degrade quickly.

Almost invisible rock ptarmigans.

Ice-cored moraine retreat can be seen from the remaining material below the slope.

The Three Crowns.

A plenty of sorted stripes on sloping terrain.

Diverse patterns.

The river exposed internal structure of sorted patterned ground.

Midnight photo of Bayelva plain before arriving back in Ny-Ålesund and flying next day back to Longyearbyen.