Ultima Thule

Antarctic summer colours

2012-01-27T14:03:00.031Z

Summer in Antarctica lasts 6 months, from October to March. During the central 4 months, 24 hours of complete daylight allow a summer temperature maximum around 2°C.

What about flora? Everybody knows about antarctic fauna - seals, penguins, birds - but are there some flowers ? Like the beautiful arctic flowers ?

Well, life is really hard for plants there. There are several mosses, fungi and lichens , but just two kinds of native flowering plants manage to grow:

- a fine-leaved, perennial grass, the Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica), one of only two flowering plant species living below latitudes of 60 degrees:

- and Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis), that has white flowers and grows about 5 cm tall, with a cushion-like growth habit that gives it a moss-like appearance:

They are present mainly in the 1% of the region that is ice and snow free, along the warmer parts of the Antarctica Peninsula and in the South Orkney Islands and the South Shetland Islands.

Small clusters of the Antarctic hair grass can be seen among rocks and in moss-filled cracks in the bedrock.

Moss - on the better drained, stony slopes of the Antarctic Peninsula, mosses build up to a deep peat - as much as six and one half feet deep and 5000 years old !

Lichens - more than 350 species. They have proliferated in Antarctica because there is little competition from mosses or flowering plants.

Piteraq in Kuummiut - Greenland at its best and worst

2012-01-16T21:00:00.012Z

From Carl Skou's Kuummiut blog, I got this amazingly beautiful video:
(listen to the atmospheric music)

A violent Piteraq storm strikes Kuummiut village in March 2011. The Piteraq is a katabatic wind. Intensely cold heavy air drains off the Greenland ice cap. The cold descending air is channelled through the valleys and can blow at 40-80 metres per second. The Piteraq is characterised by deep blue skies, intense sunlight, clear dry air and much blowing snow which can obscure visibility. Most people stay indoors during a Piteraq. This Piteraq followed a period of overcast weather and heavy snowfall. The Piteraq strips the snow from the land and breaks up the fjord pack ice.

Inuvik on the Mackenzie delta, Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada

2012-01-03T21:14:00.001Z

Inuvik is located on subsea permafrost, on the East Channel of the Mackenzie Delta, approximately 100 km from the Arctic Ocean and 200 km north of the Arctic Circle.

The Igloo church and the Inukshuk, ex-libris of Inuvik

INUVIK (pop. 3500) is the largest community in Canada north of the Arctic circle.

Coordinates 68°21′N, 133°43′ W

Inuvik is nested between the treeless tundra and the northern boreal forest, and overlooks the incredible maze of lakes and streams of the Delta.

Due to its northern location, Inuvik experiences an average of 56 days of continuous sunlight every summer and 30 days of polar night every winter.

Mckenzie Road is the main central street, where commerce and services are settled. The Eskimo Inn and The Mad Trapper restaurant are local favorites.

Lined with northern souvenir and gift shops, retails stores, businesses, as well as a variety of coffee shops, pubs, and restaurants.

A good collection of magazines to look through, summer or winter

The post office:

The residential area:

Colourful and joyfully styled housing contrasts with the surrounding tundra or with snow in winter:

The Alexander Mackenzie school:

The "Northern Images" store:

a native craft shop

Inuvik's Community Greenhouse, another landmark:

The most northern greenhouse in North America, and the only one of its kind in the world (converted from an old arena)!

The famous Igloo Church:

Inuvik's Our Lady Of Victory Church, often called Igloo Church, is a well-known landmark in the region. It is the most-photographed building in town.

The new Hospital:

A new hospital opened in early 2003, providing service to an area extending from Sachs Harbour on Banks Island, to Ulukhaktok on Victoria Island.

The Midnight Sun Complex :

A modern multi-use facility that offers recreational activities, like the Family Center:

The Mackenzie delta

The East Channel of the Mackenzie River flows to the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean. In the winter, the Mackenzie turns into an ice road which allows for road travel to Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk.

The Mackenzie spreads into a vast delta, Canada’s largest fresh water delta, close to the Arctic Ocean, in which the Peel River joins, splitting into thousands of channels before finally flowing to the Beaufort Sea.

The Dempster Highway

Inuvik is the end of Dempster Highway which connects connects the Yukon region to Northwest Territories on the Mackenzie River delta.

During the winter months, the highway extends another 194 km to Tuktoyaktuk and Aklakvik on the northern coast of Canada, using frozen portions of the Mackenzie River delta as an ice road .

The Dempster Highway at the Arctic Circle crossing.

----------------------------
see also: Tuktoyaktuk

Saksun, the spirit of the Faröe Islands

2011-12-20T21:30:00.009Z

The Faröe Islands are one of the most credible candidates to Ultima Thule !

Situated half way between Scotland and Iceland in the Northeast Atlantic, the Faröe Islands (Føroyar) are an archipelago of 18 fantastic mountainous islands, and a population of just over 47000.

Sea, green hillsides, sharp cliffs and mountains, strangely shaped islands, turf-roof houses...

and a gorgeous capital, Tórshavn:

Saksun, Streymoy island

Location: 62°14′56″ N, 7°10′33″ W

Saksun is a village near the north-west coast of the Faroese island of Streymoy.

Saksun was once an inlet surrounded by high mountains. The inlet formed a deep and good natural harbour. However a storm blocked the inlet with sand.

This made the old harbour become a unaccesible seawater lagoon.

Saksun is now a picturesque village in the bottom of the lagoon.

The Dúvugarður Museum occupies a seventeenth century farm house

The old turf-roofed farm house is a well-preserved example of a Faroese farmhouse of the 17-19th centuries.

On display here are many old domestic utensils and household objects and furniture, which displayed in their original context help to give a lively impression of traditional life in the Faröes.

The beautiful church in Saksun was built in 1858 :

Repairing the turf roof :

Ultima Europa: Hamningberg and the witch memorial

2011-12-06T20:31:00.005Z

Hamningberg, at 70° 32' N, 30° 37' E, quite above the arctic circle, claims to be "The end of Europe".

Once a fishing village, it has been abandonned for many years and is now under recovery for the location, the scenery, historic testimonials and tourism.

Hamningberg has a cultural heritage, preserved houses and a brave past of resilience, all in a fascinating landscape. Vardø is the main nearby town.

At the end of continental road E 75, the village is so totally isolated that german troops missed it in WWII, so it escaped fire and devastation in 1944.

A moon-like terrain of sharp black rocks forms the landscape along the Barents sea coastal road; reins on the beach sand and a low taga vegetation announce the arctic around; in spring, many-coloured flowers decorate the wet lowlands.

The freezing sea, the grey sky, lonely houses, the scenery reeminds us a a Bergman film.

A famous café, the "End of Europe", and a church. That's still Europe indeed!

The preserved past:

And so Europe ends, in memories and ruins...

The Steilenset Memorial,

monument for the victims of the infamous VARDØ WITCH TRIALS

A moving shrine to the 91 vctims of witch persecution, 348 years after a savage trial that condamned the last 20. By the time, Finmark region had a population of about 3000; the murder of 91 had a strong and hard social impact.

Opened on June 2011, it is located by the road from Hamningberg to Vardø, overlooking the Barents sea from the top of the cliff.

The "cube" contains a chair on which a fire burns permanently, surrounded by mirrors.

The "gallery" is an inside corridor through 91 silk drapes.

The Steilenset Memorial is a work of art of swiss achitect Peter Zumthor and french artist Louise Bourgeois.

http://www.norwaycommunicates.com/memorial.html

A post on nearby Vardø here:

http://ultima0thule.blogspot.com/2010/09/vard-norways-arctic-fronteer.html

poetry: - Terra Ultima, Ultimus dies -

2011-12-01T23:44:00.031Z

WHEN YOU ARE OLD

by: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with love false or true,

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,

And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,

Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

"When You Are Old" from The Rose

W.B. Yeats. 1893.

New images from Mars

2011-11-23T18:27:00.012Z

Mars, XXI century's Ultima Thule for mankind.

Sunset on Mars

Claritas Fossae

Nasa, ESA

Longyearbyen, an arctic capital in glorious surrounding landscape

2011-11-16T23:12:00.013Z

Svalbard is a norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean whose largest island is Spitsbergen. Svalbard was discovered in 1596 by the Dutch navigator Willem Barentsz.

The town of Longyearbyen, at the mouth of Adventfjord; down right, deep in the Larsbreen glacier, the arctic university UNIS

Longyearbyen (pop. ~ 2100 inhabitants) is the administrative center of Svalbard.

At 78°13′N, 15°33′E, Longyearbyen is also the world's most northerly town.

Located in the shores of the great Isfjorden, more precisely at the mouth of the smaller Advenfjord, the town is surrounded by a breathtaking artic scenery of mountains, fjords and glaciers.

It was founded in 1906 by the american industrialist John Munroe Longyear, who established the archipelago's major economic activity, coalmining - the industry most people on Svalbard still rely on today.

Longyearbyen, main street

The town center in a warm summer day

and in early spring

From October to April, there is darkness or permanent twilight, but then the sun doesn't set at all in May, June, July, and most of August. The yearly return of the sun is celebrated with merry festivities.

Dark red is probably the most frequently-seen shade of pigment in Longyearbyen , but the color palette of newer houses adds variety and beauty to the Arctic townscape.

Longyearbyen's building code requires that houses be painted in colours that complement the earth tones of the tundra.

A residential area - colourful houses contrast with the white environment

Since the 17th century, people of different nationalities came to Svalbard for various activities: hunting, trapping, research, but most of all mining for coal, for wich Longyear founded the town.

The old mining cableway

The small mine in Longyearbyen is now used mainly to supply the town's own power plant.

The town has grown from a mining settlement into a municipality with some 2 000 temporary residents. Each year, about 100 people leave and other 100 move into Longyearbyen : scientists, tourist guides, miners, administrators, and other residents from more than 30 countries.

World's most northern church

at 78°13′N 15°33′E

Built of wood, Longyearbyen church was inaugurated in 1958

Church detail

The church café

Today, the community offers a wide range of activities and facilities, including a swimming hall, a sports hall, a large store and a shopping mall, pubs, cafés and restaurants, seven hotels, one church, shops, a cinema...

The Svalbard Hotel lounge terrace bar

Restaurant Kroa

The recent cultural center and cafe Kulturhuset, for exhibitions and concerts

Huset Café, a historical place, opened in the fifties:

Huset, the oldest café in town, restaurant, cinema and concert hall.

View from Huset's window

The local shopping mall Lompensenteret

The school

The northenmost school in the world, with children from 13 different nations.

Schoolyard

Svalbard Museum

http://www.svalbardmuseum.no/eframside.php

The Treaty of Versailles, at the end of World War I, made Svalbard part of the Kingdom of Norway but allowed citizens of other signing nations equal rights to residence, property, commercial activities and research on the island. That's the reason why many were attracted to the island.

UNIS - University of Svalbard

The University Centre in Svalbard represents four Norwegian universities and provides university-level education in Arctic studies.

Hotels

Recently, with the opening of an international airport with scheduled frequent flights and the increasing number of arctic cruise ships visiting the town and the islands, tourist business is expanding and some fine hotels have arised, like the Radisson Blu or this Spitzbergen Hotel :

View from a hotel window

The surrounding arctic landscape

Longyearbyen is surrounded by mountains, fjords - the Advenfjorden and the Isfjorden - and glaciars - Longyearbreen, Larsbreen, Monacobreen, Esmarkbreen.

The Isfjorden

Isfjorden was first observed by Willem Barentsz as early as 1596.

The Isfjorden as seen from Longyearbyen

A Basque whaling ship from San Sebastian was the first to establish a temporary whaling station here in 1612. Since 1613, French, Basque, and Dutch whaling ships resorted to Trygghamna (safehaven) on the north entrance of Isford.

Trygghamna offers good mooring conditions and the sheltered harbour is protected from most winds.

The landscape around this large bird cliff is lush and impressive.

Villa Fredheim

one of the most well-known hunter's cabins.

Gammelhytta (the old Cabin), built by norwegian hunter Daniel Nøis during his stay in the winter between 1911 and 1912, is part of the Villa Fredheim hunting station, in Isfjorden, where since 1911 his nephew Hilmar Nøis lived for 38 years hunting polar bears, foxes and bearded seals for the lucrative fur, reindeer and ptarmigans also for the meat.

It´s an historic example of old hunting cabin building - moss was used for filling the walls, birch bark covered both the walls and roof, and turf was put up along the walls and on the roof.

Larsbreen, the glacier just outside Longyearbyen

Down along the glacier, Nybyen, where UNIS studentes lodge

Esmarkbreen glacier, across the Isfjorden

In the right hour of the day, the scenic Esmarkbreen reflects a striking blue light.

Monacobreen, the Monaco glacier

A 6 km wide front

The Fram cruise ship visiting Monaco glacier

The region has a rich fauna: reindeer, polar bears, arctic foxes, seals, walruses, whales and birds - ptarmigan, guillemots, ducks, terns...

Svalbard rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta hyperborea)

Eider duck, a sea duck (Somateria mollissima), in Adventfjorden

The arctic flora in spring and summer is amazing - some 170 flowering plant species in Svalbard, displaying a rich variety of colours that richly decorate the white or gray soil.

Polar campion (silene uralensis)

Mountain Avens (dryas octopetala)

19 april - the first sun after the long arctic night

--------------------------------------------------

Svalbard's Global Seed Vault

I published before on Ultima Thule a post on the Global Seed Vault, here.

Ny Ålesund

You can also find a post on the historic and scientific settlement of Ny Ålesund, in extreme north Svalbard, here.

Winter Whiteness

2011-11-09T18:21:00.003Z

On the snow or flying above, white bodies of heavenly beauty living in the arctic territories:

The arctic fox Vulpes lagopus in winter

The tundra swan, Cygnus columbianus

Polar bear Ursus maritimus and cubs

The arctic ermine, Mustela erminea

A snow owl Bubo scandiacus in low flight

Arctic hares, Lepus arcticus

The rock Ptarmigan Lagopus muta in winter

The artic Tern, Sterna paradisaea

A baby harp seal, Pagophilus groenlandicus

Or even...

A snow cat :)

Villa las Estrellas, an hamlet in Antarctica

2011-11-01T18:41:00.001Z

King George Island, Antarctica, pop. ~1200

Villa las Estrellas, at 62°12′ S, 58°53′ W, is a town in Antarctica's South Shetland Islands. It is integrated in Chilean Eduardo Frei Base, a scientific (meteo center)-military (air base) station on King George Island, Filde Peninsula.

It is one of only two civilian permanent settlements on Antarctica (the other being Argentina's Esperanza Base). It has a summer population of 150 and 50-80 in winter - the most populated town of Antarctica !

The average temperature is - 5ºC. Winter (June , July and August) is mostly dark antarctic night, with only 4-5 h of sun light, but in summer there is no real night - just twilight. The longest day is the 25th December, when the sun rises at 3:00 and sets at 22:51.

Villa Las Estrellas was founded in 1984

The hamlet has 20 prefabricated modules, 14 are family residences. It´s an incredible place, where you can find everything in well equiped small warm spaces.

Bank, post, hospital, school, kindergarten, hostel, gym, store/market, local shop, church:

The catholic church of Las Estrellas - a large metallic container

The local gym, the red-and-white hangar at right, where locals practise cycling, games, athletics...

There is an aerodrome providing the settlement and other Antarctica bases with several connections, with some 200 flights each season.

A chilean Hercules approaching the base, passed over the Trinity Church of neighbour Bellinghausen station.

Vila Las Estrellas and Eduardo Frei Base, showing the hospital, school, church and hostel (clic for a better view)

The local 15 children youth study at F-50 School, a primary school staffed by two teachers.

There is a Hospital staffed with one doctor and a nurse:

The post office is also an attraction for tourists and philately enthusiasts that travel to the town to send postcards and letters with an Antarctic postmark.

Not always easy to reach, though...

For visitors, the small hostel "Polestar", a dormitory for up to 90 people:

The settlement is just some 200 m away from the russian Bellinghausen station I recently posted about. Here you can see the territory, with the orthodox Trinity Church dominating in the far, over a hill:

(clic for a better view)

Villa las Estrellas is one of the main ports of call of Antarctica cruises.

Southern Thule:a church in Bellinghausen, Antarctica

2011-10-18T01:09:00.023+01:00

Bellinghausen Station is a Russian base in Antarctica, on a mostly ice-free peninsula of King George Island, where several other research stations are located. It normally houses around 25 people to a maximum of 50.

King George Island is probably the most populated region in Antarctica: Chilean, Polish, Argentinean, Brasilian, Peruvian, Chinese, Korean ... and Russian stations were built there for its natural conditions of easy access, natural harbours and relatively mild climate.

In recent years Bellinghausen station gained reputation as a trading post, with station members willing to swap or sell pins, flags clothing...

The average temperature around the station varies from -6.8°С to +1.1°С .

Coordinates : 62º 12' S, 58º 56' W

The Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity

Maybe the most remarkable feature of the station is now its Trinity Church - a small Russian Orthodox church which is the southernmost church in the world (though there is an ice-made igloo-like church, mostly unattended, some degrees more southerly) and the only permanently staffed church in Antarctica.

The church was opened in 2004 - shipped from Siberia in pieces and reassembled at the site. The interior is really well conceived and decorated, creating maybe the best place to feel cosy in all Antarctica!

This church was built in 2003 in the Altaï Mountains, in noble Altaï cedar and larch wood, the logs sealed with a special glue and reinforced with a structure of steel chains to resist strong horizontal guts and storms.

First taken to the port of Kaliningrad on five big trucks, in separated numbered parts, then on board the research vessel "Akademik Sergey Vavilov" to the southern continent in a long trip of more than two months.

Akademik Sergey Vavilov arriving in Bellinghausen

For half a century of scientific exploration of the ice continent, 64 russian polar explorers have found peace in the rocky ridges of Antarctica. Now there is a place to mourn them.

In 2007, the first and only until now wedding in Antarctica took place - the daughter of Russian polar explorer was married to a Chilean polar explorer from the next station.

Slowly, the temporary population of Antarctica stations is settling in a permanent way of living; also schools, hospitals, gyms and restaurants may help this change in a continent with an open future.

The arctic ermine - the dearest arctic creature!

2011-10-07T13:40:00.030+01:00

Some time ago, I declared my admiration for the Arctic Tern as the most wonderful bird on the planet; now, I declare my sympathy for the Ermine, the most cute (though fearsome and deadly!) small mammal.

Ermines (Mustela erminea) live in the Arctic tundra of North America (Canadian high arctic), Greenland and Europe (Siberia). Their usual habitat: flat marshes, open spaces or rocky areas.

In the spring and summer they have brown to yellow-brown fur with paler or white fur on the belly and a black tip on the tail.

Ermine reach over 30 cm in length.

The head is triangular shaped with small round ears, small, bright eyes and long whiskers.

They grow white fur in the winter, but the tip of the tail remains black:

Ermine's black tail tip may draw any predator bird's attention and fool it into attacking the tail.

A small, white face pushes up through the snow, its black eyes gleaming brightly.

The ermine's flexible spine allows it to do the "marten run" in which the back is first arched, then extended.

Ermines are very territorial, and largely solitary animals.

Their life span is 4 to 7 years.

Elusive predators, ermines are cruel little killers for there preys mainly mice, lemmings, squirrels, small birds, but also rats and sometimes rabbits!

Ermine are largely nocturnal or crepuscular. Most of their preys are small rodents that live beneath the snow in winter. And in turn they are ferquent prey to wolves, foxes, cats and large birds.

A long time ago, during the Middle Ages, the fur of the white phase of the ermine was popular in clothing, and had a strong symbolic meaning of purity.

"Ermine" portrait of Elizabeth I by Nicholas Hilliard, 1585

Nowadays ermines are almost never used in clothing.

Ermines were also choosed to figure in some coats-of-arms, because of that purity symbolism.

Ermine in Chateau-Blois window

Ermines are neither threatened or endangered. The world population is some trillions !

A short video on ermine's gluttony:

Sites with history in the canadian Arctic:Sachs Harbour, the Aulavik Park, and the wreck of the Investigator

2011-09-26T14:00:00.010+01:00

Banks Island belongs to the Arctic Archipelago, on the Canadian Northwest Territories

The island has one settlement, Sachs Harbour, and a National Park, Aulavik

Sachs Harbor, pop. ~140

Latitude: 71° 58' N; Longitude: 125° 12' W

Sachs Harbour or Ikaahuk ("place where one crosses") is the most northerly community in the NWT of Canada. Sachs Harbour is the only permanent settlement on Banks Island, situated on its southwestern shore, and is the nearest community to Aulavik National Park. The settlement is also known as the "Muskox Capital of Canada".

It has a small airfield and terminal, a school, a nurse health center.

Sachs Harbour

Facing the Beaufort Sea

Dreadly cold winters

The Aulavik Park

Aulavik National Park is on Banks Island, the most westerly island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The Beaufort Sea lies to the west. To the northeast, M'Clure Strait separates the island from Prince Patrick Island and Melville Island.

Banks Island is tundra territory, with extremely cold winters. The island is home to barren-ground caribou, polar bears, muskoxen - 68000 muskoxen live on the island, the majority of the world's population.

Paddling on Thomsen River observed by musk-oxen.

The heart of Aulavik National Park is the Thomsen River. It runs through the park, and is the northernmost navigable river (by canoe or kayak) in North America.

The park encompasses a variety of landscapes from fertile river valleys to polar deserts, buttes and badlands, rolling hills, and bold seacoasts.

Spring in Aulavik

Arctic cotton

Gyrfalcon bluff

Arctic fox

Tundra ermine in summer

The wreck of the HMS Investigator

In September 1851, Captain Robert McClure's ship, HMS Investigator, became ice trapped in Mercy Bay, Banks Island, during his search for the lost Sir John Franklin Expedition, ordered to complete a crossing of the Northwest Passage, which had already been charted from both the east and west but had never been entirely navigated.

The HMS Investigator, built at Scotts of Greenock and bought by the Admiralty in February 1848, has now been found by a team of Parks Canada scientists after 156 years since it was last seen.

HMS Investigator was strengthened with iron reinforcement for Arctic services; in 1848 she set sail, in search for the missing Sir John Franklin expedition in quest of the Northwest Passage: with two other lost ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, it had made up the ill-fated 1845 British Arctic Expedition that failed the attempt to cross the passage through the Arctic.

HMS Erebus and HMS Terror trapped in the ice

Having only found some graves and human remains, and failed again the attempt to sail through the deep frozen Arctcic ocean, then on the return voyage, which was commanded by Robert McClure, HMS Investigator itself became trapped in the ice.

Three years later, on June 3rd 1853, her sixty-nine man crew were forced to abandon ship. She was finally abandoned in Mercy Bay, Banks Island. Most of the crew went on to survive for three winters, though in the most unimaginably desperate conditions. They were finally rescued in Melville Island.

The Investigator's remains were found on the shores of the island with the deck of the ship roughly eight metres below the surface of the water. The Canadian archaeologists found the ship "largely intact" sitting upright in approximately 25 feet of pristine arctic water.

(The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror wrecks are yet to be found)

Point Hope, overlooking the Chukchi Sea

2011-09-14T23:55:00.007+01:00

In my wandering quest for Ultima Thule, this time I'm back in Alaska, in the western-most extension of the northwest Alaska coast, southwest of Barrow, called te North Slope.

This is no soft beauty - nature is harsh, civilization too far away, life is back to basics, no comfort, no modern luxury. Isolation is heavy on everyday living, but things got a lot better with, first, the building of the new well-equiped school and a good library, and second, internet access for all.

Point Hope, Alaska

Population ~750

Location 68º 21' N , 166º 47' W, 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Point Hope (Tikiġaq) is located near the tip of Lisburne peninsula, a large gravel spit in a lowland area with several coastal lagoons facing the Chukchi Sea, south of the Arctic Sea and north of the Bering Strait.

The settlement got its name from a visiting british captain in honour of an englishman family "connected with the sea". But it had been for centuries inhabited by native Inupiat Inuit people.

Lisburne peninsula is in fact one of the oldest continuously occupied Inuit areas in Alaska.

Welcome

The climate is arctic. The Chukchi Sea is frozen most of the year, but ice-free from late June until mid-September.

Point Hope in the distance, seen from frozen sea

Point Hope residents are dependent upon marine subsistence.

Ice conditions allow easy boat launchings into open leads early in the spring whaling season.

Native whalers launching the umiak

This highly favorable site, with its abundant resources, has enabled them to retain strong cultural traditions, after more than a century of outside influences. The history of Point Hope was strongly influenced by whaling, trading and caribou herding. Walrus and occasional polar bears are also traditional resources.

Umiak with harpoons in place

The umiak is made of animal skin on a wood frame

Seal skin covered umiak

Caribou herd

Some local facilities:

For shopping

Tikigaq School, the second largest in Alaska, serving more than 250 children

At the Youth Centre's library

The Post office

The igloo-shaped Community centre

Dressed for the cold

Typical house and sled

A wealthy native family: SUV car, 4 wheeler and sled.

At June's whaling festival: inuit drum playing and dancing

Whale bones are strong native symbols

Point Hope at sunset

Cape Thompson

Cape Thompson is a headland on the Chukchi Sea coast of Alaska.

It is located 26 miles to the southeast of Point Hope.

Towering spires and cliffs host giant rookeries

The cape facing ice floes in Chukchi Sea

Chukchi Sea at sunset:

Ammassalik, Greenland - one fjord, three hamlets, ice wonders

2011-09-02T16:18:00.021+01:00

Ammassalik Fjord is a 41 km long fjord in southeastern Greenland.

Coordinates: 65°43'N, 37°42' W

The fjord area has become one of the top attractions in Greenland, due to the fabulous sceneries of iced mountains and waters, and the colourful houses cascading downhill to the fjord's waters. Also kayaking and dog sledding excursions have a growing demand.

There are three settlements in the vicinity of the fjord: Tasiilaq, Kulusuk and Kuummiut:

The Ammassalik fjord area

Ammassalik island

The main settlement of the archipelago, Tasiilaq, is located in Ammassalik island, just south of the mouth of the Fjord, approximately 106 km south of the Arctic Circle, on the shore of a natural harbour. Tasiilaq is surrounded by the high Ammassalik mountains, away from the open sea...

Late afternoon, with view over the Kong Oscar Havn and the mountains

With almost 2000 inhabitants, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland. It slopes like a cascade of coloured houses down to the fjord's waters packed with icebergs.

House with a view on Ammassalik mountain and the fjord

Tasiilaq has a museum of inuit arts and History, a hotel and other facilities, and it has a strategic harbour - Kong Oscar Havn - where goods are brought by special supply cargos from Royal Arctic Line.

The old church, now a Museum

Bench decoration inside the church

Ivory decorated box

Tasiilaq receives supply ships only between June and September, because for the rest of the year the pack ice is too thick for ships to reach the port. The supply ship from Arctic Line unloads at Kong Oskars Havn. Supplies are vital to the inhabitants, so the arrival of the year's first cargo ship has been waited for long.

Further to the southeast of the mouth, the village of Kulusuk

Kulusuk family and their sledge

The typical many-coloured houses, imported from Denmark

Kulusuk ( pop. 300 ) is situated on the East coast, at 65º N. A truly remarkable place, because of its hostile nature and the fact that it has been cut off from the rest of the world for centuries.

But now the settlement is more visited for its airport, the most important of the East coast, and for being the departing point for several excursions by kayak, dog sled or helicopter.

The airport terminal and the local "taxi"

The airport also provides supplies, and brings danish teachers and medical staff who give basic assistance to the mostly inuit inhabitants.

The local hotel has conquered some reputation among ice-adventure tourists. As the other settlements in Ammassalik, Kulusuk remains relatively immune to Western influence despite the regular influx of tourists.

Hotel Kulusuk, an ideal location for ice adventure

The village of Kuummiut lays on the shores of Ammassalik fjord, located on the eastern coast of its central part, perched on the tip of a partially glaciated mainland peninsula, like a perfect jewel in the fjord.

Here is the link to a blog with wondeful photos by Carl Skou, a danish teacher who's working there since 2000:

http://www.kuummiut.com/

Kuummiut in January's sun, by Carl Skou

Sometime ago, I also published this small post related to this subject.

Reflections on the fjord's waters, Kuummiut

Irene over New York

2011-08-31T21:22:00.014+01:00

Oh Irene ! What a woman - she left New Yorkers' heads spinning round!

Well, almost nothing then. But what a beauty she was, all that whiteness swirling as seen from the sky above...

Photo NASA

Cambridge Bay, Victoria Island- Here lies the wreck of Amundsen's Maud

2011-08-15T15:40:00.011+01:00

Cambridge Bay, on the southern edge of Victoria Island (arctic archipelago of Canada) is a colourful Inuit settlement in the arctic semi-desert tundra.

Location 69°07′ N, 105°03′11 W

The anglican church

The sea-bay front and the antenna.

The arctic visitor centre

Remains of an old stone church

With a land area of more than 200,000 square kilometres, Victoria Island is the ninth-largest island in the world. The region belongs to the territory of Nunavut in extreme north-eastern Canada.

The population of Cambridge Bay is around 1500 people. The native name of the settlement, Iqaluktuttiaq, means "a good place with many fish".

Inuit drum player

Dry arctic char, the local speciality.

The name of Cambridge Bay traces back to the year 1839, when the district was mapped by the Hudson's Bay Company, the skin trade emporium, with a small outpost there:

Hudson's Bay Company cabin

In the 1940s a lighthouse was built in Cambridge Bay, followed during the Cold War in the 1950s by a large radar system which is no longer in operation.

These new conditions led to an increase in population, who had to live in an inhospitable region where average temperatures never rise above 10 °C in summer and the thermometer falls to average levels of below –30 °C in winter.

School bus stop

To enable so many people to live permanently in isolation, the hamlet has numerous facilities in its centre including schools, a health center, a swimming pool ...

The shipwreck of the Maud

You are made for ice
You shall spend your best years in the ice
And you shall do your work in the ice

In 1918, Roald Amundsen had launched an expedition through the North-East Passage. He had the ship Maud built for this purpose.

The Maud

The expedition failed, and in August 1925 the Maud was taken over by the Hudson's Bay Company and used as a supply ship for Cambridge Bay, where she sank in 1930. Today, parts of the hull offer a reminder of this chapter in the opening up of the Arctic.

The ship now lies just off the shore in the bay, across the frozen ice from Cambridge Bay's former Hudson's Bay Company store.

Tundra vegetation surrounds the hamlet area:

Musk oxen are common in Victoria island:

Cambridge Bay in Nunavut's Arctic Archipelago:

Glendalough, St Kelvin's monastic city

2011-08-08T14:03:00.003+01:00

When you see such an old, ususual, humble human work, with a primitive and ascetic grandeur, you can´t but stand in amazement in presence of the kind of universal work of mankind that makes History.

The location of the monastic city of Glendalough is in itself another wonder - a valley (Glen) through which run small water lines fed by two lakes (da-lough), all hidden and encircled by the green Wicklow Mounts.

In the latter part of the sixth century, Saint Kelvin (~498 - 618 ), Dublin´s patron saint, crossed the mountains from Hollywood (Ireland) to Glendalough. The path he took later became known as St. Kevin's Way. This track facilitated the development of Glendalough, so that within 100 years it had developed from a remote hermitage site into one of the most important monastic sites in Ireland: with its seven churches, it became the chief pilgrimage destination and a veritable city in the desert.

St. Kevin

Situated in a remote valley and in an upland area, the site kept hidden for sometime from Vikking coastal attacks; but once discovered it was an easy target, and many times between 775 and 1095 it was under atack by both local tribes and Norse invaders. Usually the churches and houses were burned, but each time the monastery was rebuilt.

As its fame spread, the monastery flourished and its success continued after St. Kevin died in 617 AD.

Monasteries in pre-Norman Ireland were a considerable economic force, and were sufficiently well organised as to be capable of withstanding periodic crises and famines. The population there may have been around 500 - 1 000 people. Many would have been employed by the monastery - tending flocks, tilling, sowing and harvesting. In addition to stores of treasure, most monasteries maintained substantial stocks of food.

The Round Tower

Perhaps the most noticeable monument, the Round Tower is about 30 metres high. The narrow entrance is about 3.5 metres from the base ! That's why it resisted to so many invaders.

Round towers were multi-functional. They served as landmarks for visitors, bell-towers, store-houses, and as places of refuge in times of attack.

St. Kevin's "kitchen"

This church is most noticeable for its steep roof formed of overlapping stone, supported internally by a semi-circular vault. The belfry has a stone cap and four windows facing north, south, east and west, and is reminiscent of a round tower.

With the arrival of the Anglo-Normans a dramatic change occured within the political landscape of Ireland. Both ecclesiastical and political activity centred around Dublin. Subsequently, Glendalough was annexed to the diocese of Dublin and its importance declined.

Despite this, the place has retained a spiritual significance.

Nowadays, we can only see the ruins among a very beautiful graveyard, with plenty of celtic crosses, among green meadows and hillsides, suggesting meditation and contemplation.

Location map:

* Fifty thousand *

2011-08-05T00:00:00.008+01:00

You say bah, that's not much; for me, 50 000 visitors to my modest Ultima Thule blog is a feast!

And that IS today !

I absolutely

you all !

Arctic churches: simple and colourful

2011-07-12T21:08:00.108+01:00

Arctic churches are usually a landmark, sometimes the best building around; most look like this: wooden made, a rectangular body , a single bell tower on the front face, walls coloured red, blue, brown, gray - in general an attractive and rather joyful building, not a dark heavy one.

Inside, a single nave, columns are rare, no chapels, transept in a few, and a modest altar. Now and then, a side chapel, a vestibule or covered entrance, some woodwork.

Some examples, a mini-album:

1. Grise fiord, Arctic Archipelago, Canada

2. Uelen, Russia, Northeast Siberia.

3. Vardø, Norway

4. Uummannaq, Greenland

One of few stone churches in the Arctic !

5. Tuktoyaktuk, Canada, Northwest Territories

That's a church! Even has a cross plant and a roof skylight.

6. Ittileq, Greenland

7. Unalaska, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Topped with russian orthodox onion-shaped domes:

8. Arctic Bay, Baffin Island, Canada

9. Upernavik, Greenland

By now, you may have noticed: most greenlandic churches are vivid red.

10. Tasiilaq, Greenland

This church is now Ammassalik Museum

Church bench decoration, inuit theme

11. Mo-i-rana, Norway

12. Longyearbyen , Svalbard Island

13. Sisimiut, Greenland

Sisimiut is well known for its two colonial - era churches: the red one...

... and the blue one:

14 . Kimmirut, Arctic Archipelago, Canada

An anglican church built in 1909.

15. Resolute, Arctic Archipelago, Canada

16. Qaqortoq, Greenland

17. Nuuk, Greenland capital's old church

18. A jewel: Ilulissat, Greenland

For a medieval stone church in arctic latitudes, see

http://ultima0thule.blogspot.com/2011/02/trondenes-church-norway.html

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) , an atlantic creek and a viking parliament

2011-07-12T00:29:00.003+01:00

Thingvellir, Iceland, is the historic site of the oldest parliament in the world, one of the most spectacular parks in Iceland and a huge surface creek between tectonic plates.

Here the Mid-Atlantic Ridge comes above water: Thingvellir is an enormous geologic rift between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

One of the most beautiful places in Iceland, Thingvellir National Park is also central to the nation's history: it was home to the first parliament in the world. Icelandic Vikings began meeting here annually in the 10th century, gathering around a giant rock formation to create new laws and amend previous ones.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a divergent boundary, so as the two plates are slowly moving apart Iceland will sometime in the future break into two seperate land masses with the Atlantic Ocean between!

These two continents are drifting apart, due to the tectonic plates, at the speed of 2 m per century, so the land here is constantly sinking due to the land-masses splitting apart, and thus a huge graben, or rift valley, is forming.

The Alþingi or Althing (viking parliament) was founded here around 930 AD, and assembled each summer. Later it functioned as a court of law until 1798. Many crucial events in Iceland's history took place here, such as the adoption of Christianity around 1000 AD, and the foundation of the modern Icelandic Republic in 1944.

19th century rendering of the Law Rock in Þingvellir.

Public addresses on matters of importance were delivered at the Law. The Lögrétta, the legislative section of the assembly, was its most powerful institution.

Since 1930 Þingvellir has been a National Park, and in 2004 ist was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Þingvellir National Park

The property includes the Þingvellir National Park and the remains of the Althing itself: fragments of around 50 booths built from turf and stone, remains from the 10th century thought to be buried underground. Also Lake Þingvallavatn, with a rich geological history and ecossistem, and the Öxarárfoss (waterfall of the Öxarár river) are protected attractions of the Park.

Old church where the Öxarár river joins the Þingvallavatn lake

Öxarárfoss waterfall

Quviasukvik !

2011-07-03T21:19:00.011+01:00

Quviasukvik, «place and/or time of joy »; happy day !

happiness runs in a circular motion !

or, as William Blake wrote,

enjoy!

Vernadsky, the funniest antarctic station

2011-06-17T14:36:00.006+01:00

This time, the extreme south:

Vernadsky Research Base is a Ukrainian Station at Marina Point on Galindez Island, in Antarctica.

Coordinates: 65°15'S, 64°16'W

The station consists of nine buildings standing on rock foundations. A 1961 extension at the east end of the hut provided living quarters for 15 people.

The base was established as "Faraday Station" by the British in 1947; later it moved to the present site on Galindez Island in May 1954.

Major alterations in 1980 updated the living and working accommodation.

A two-storey extension provides sleeping accommodation for 24 people.

Ukraine took over the operation of the base in February 1996.

The price was symbolic: just one pound !

The original coin now decorates the station lounge:

Akademik Vernadsky Station:

http://www.antarctida.kiev.ua/english/

The Ukrainian Antarctic Center continues a programme of meteorology, upper atmospheric physics, geomagnetism, ozone, seismology, glaciology, ecology, biology and physiology research.

The discovery of the ozone hole was made at that very location.

Upstairs are a lounge, library, dining room, gift store and kitchen. The research team os granted some confort and space.

The docking building

The shop and visitor's center

Long course post from faraway...

Maybe the most southerly shop in the world.

A short video about Vernadsky base:

Las Médulas - roman legacy landscape in northern Iberia

2011-05-29T19:47:00.009+01:00

This time, not an arctic location - but a place in northern Spain that is known of few, in the region of Asturias, not far from the cities of Léon and Astorga.

Las Médulas were the most important gold mines of all Roman empire. They were explored from 19 B.C. until mid-3rd century.

"Mons Medullius", also the site of asturian battles.

Now the remaining land, richly forested, offers a strange scenery of beauty, history and geology. That´s why it is classified by UNESCO as one of the nature's wonders of Spain.

The Asturian territory was known by the romans for its soil, rich in metals like iron, tin and gold. Pliny, who visited the region for some years, wrote:

"The mountains of Hispania, barren and sterile, and producing nothing else worthy, had at least to produce gold"

The gold fever, that opened around 50 exploitation sites, may have been caused by the introduction of the gold coin the aureus, part of an impostant monetary reform by imperor Augustus.

Pliny estimates a "6 500 Kg per year" production of gold; that would be 6 to 7% of the roman annual erary income! The profits were certainly more modest, as according to modern research gold was only around 1 gram per cubic meter, with scarce bigger nuggets - Pliny refering palagas of more than 3 Kg !!

Pliny described the mining technique:

"This type of mine has been given the name of Ruina Montium. The cracks made in the entrails of the stone are so dangerous that it would be easier to find purpurine or pearls at the bottom of the sea than make scars in the rock."
"Broken, the mountain falls in on itself with a noise louder and a wind more violent than any human mind could imagine…"

Oaks, chestnut trees, willows, alders, cork trees, and vigorous heather ( up to 2m high), form a dense and varied grove.

The capricious forms of the ruined mounts interact with the bush and forest, creating an uncommon landscape, with the rosy peaks emerging from the green canopies.

http://www.fundacionlasmedulas.org/parque/index.jsp

Pond Inlet, arctic village with a difference

2011-05-11T01:12:00.070+01:00

Pond Inlet (pop. 1400) is situated at 72º 41’N, 78º 00’W, about 700 km north of the Polar Circle, on the northeastern shore of Baffin Island, across from Bylot Island.

The Inuit call Pond Inlet Mittimatalik or the resting place of Mittima, an Inuk whose memory has been perpetuated through the years. Back in 1930-ies Inuit were coming to Mittimatalik mostly in the spring to trade furs and to spend few weeks at the trading post or at the mission.

The comunity is considered one of Canada's "jewels of the North": gorgeous scenery, mountainous ranges all around, icebergs most often, several dozen glaciers, explorable ice caves, and many grand and picturesque inlets overlooking the waters of Eclipse Sound across to the towering mountains and glaciers of Bylot Island and Sirmilik National park.

http://www.pondinlet.ca/i18n/english/history.html

Wellcome sign at the airport

Inuit mother and child

Local Ulaajuk school

Caribou, fox, seal or fish are the main resources of the settlement's population.
Inuksuk Residence,

Richard Carbonnier's innovative arctic house

Richard Carbonnier is a Montreal-born architect who spent four years building this tube house to suit – and tread lightly on – the polar environment.

The building stands on three floating footings. The curves allow the building to stand up to high winds better than a conventional design.

Made from three large aluminum cylinders that intersect at a living room space

The amazing Bylot Island

This small island, at 73°16′N, 78°30′W , north of Baffin Island right across a sea straight from Pond Inlet, has been for long an attraction for painters and explorers. Glaciers and mountains with an uncommon profile decorate this uninhabitated natural park, where polar bears come often to have their cubs.

Hoodoos in Bylot

Mount Thule, on Bylot island, by Lawren Harris

An icon for this blog!

The frightful but terrific Bear Island

2011-05-02T00:59:00.030+01:00

Island of hell, scenery of shipwrecks and drama.

Bjørnøya (Bear Island) is a small remote island in the Barents Sea, within the Arctic circle, 450 km north of Tromsø, about midway between the Norwegian mainland and Spitsbergen.

Location : 74.30° N, 19.01° E

Most of the island's 176 km2 are flat, with some mountainous areas in the south. The Miseryfjellet mountain is the tallest with 536 m.

Cliffs with the Miseryfjellet in background

Approximately 600 small lakes are scattered around the island. The interior of Bjørnøya is quite barren and vegetation is mostly lacking.

At the meeting point of the warm water of the Gulf Stream going north and the cold westerly Siberian Current, the climate is milder than expected. But the temperature difference between the warm and cold water produces dense fog which for the most of the summer engulfs the island.

The island is uninhabited, but there is a permanently staffed Norwegian weather station at the north coast, the most friendly area.

The south: a threatening profile

High cliffs and sea stacks rise up into the clouds that almost perpetually shroud Bear Island, under a windy, rough and foggy weather that helped to create it's reputation.

To land anywhere is a challenge and something you can do only in exceptionally good weather conditions. The lack of protected bays and the rough weather with strong winds and frequent fog make visiting Bjørnøya frequently impossible.

There are endless accounts telling horrific stories about sailors trying to get ashore after their ships had sunk.

The island was discovered by the Dutch polar explorer Willem Barents in 1596; his crew killed a bear and called the island after its bears, "Beeren Eyeland". It came under Norwegian sovereignty together with the rest of Svalbard islands in 1925.

Since 1918 a radio and weather station has been active on the island, and is still manned today. In 1947 a new radio meteorological station was built in Herwighamna. New instruments were installed in 1949.

Today it is run by a crew of nine people, which is changed twice a year. Transition to digital recording took place in 1986. The magnetometer is operated with the assistance of the Meteorological Institute of Norway and located at the new meteorological station.

Coordinates: 74°30'N 19°01'E

The station consists of about 20 buildings in total, in an area of approximately 150 000 m².

Herwighamna meteorological station

Weather observations have been carried out from the Meteorological Institute’s weather station since 1932.

Some old buldings of the first 1947 station are part of the new complex, as a small museum:

The northern coast has some quiet bays where small boats can land in good weather:

But there is only one usable harbour to drop anchor on the island, Sørhamna:

Although Bear Island is seldom visited, maybe one of the main attractions is the tunnel, made famous through a reference in Alistair Maclean's "Bear Island" novel (and the film based on it)

The amazing “Pearly gates” (Perleporten) tunnel, more than 180 meters long.

Through Cape Kolthoff, over thousands of years, the ocean carved a long tunnel, called the Pearly Gates.

After the entrance, an interior "pool" hidden from outside - a secret explored in Alistair Maclean's thriller.

A recent wreck increased the island's bad reputation: in May 2009, the "Petrozavodsk”, a Russian vessel, ran aground by the south coast of Bear Island, near the fearful cliffs that are breeding ground for sea bird colonies.

Later, the ship broke in two and was finally removed.

Some diesel and oil leaked into the ocean beneath the cliffs where thousands of guillemots usually nest.

Guillemot colony

Do arctic bears still visit the island? They do come sometimes, in March, when the sea ice reaches this far south.

In spring and early summertime, Bjørnøya gets new colours and becomes much more like a paradise:

Bjørnøya was officially made a protected nature reserve in 2002.

Aurora Borealis, northern lights

2011-04-18T15:16:00.012+01:00

Terje Sorgjerd, from Oslo, spent a week filming one of the largest Auroras of recent years, and what a magnificent film he gave us:

Shot in and around Kirkenes (Norway) and Pas National Park, bordering Russia, at 70º N 30º E. Temperatures around -25º Celsius.

Irkutsk, lake Baikal: wonders in remote Siberia

2011-04-10T18:22:00.014+01:00

Irkutsk, the "Paris of Siberia"

The final destiny of Michel Strogoff's adventure is now a lively and attractive town.

Coordinates: 82°18′ N 104°17′ E

Located in deep Siberia, where the Angara river starts from the Baikal lake, Irkutsk was founded in 1652 by the cossacs and developped as a fur trade outpost, and later as the center of a gold rush in the 19th century. Wealthy families competed in richly decorating their wooden houses, as we will see.

With the trans-siberian railroad in 1898 came wider trading and industry. Looking at a map, you see how far the town was from any civilization center, and from the sea. The arrival of the trans-siberian was a turning point in the life of Irkutsk.

After a dark, depressing era as an exile and deportation site during Stalin reign, Irkutsk is now a coloured University town, with a population of 800 000, museums, theaters, opera, symphonic orchestra, parks and promenades .

To start, a very beautiful railroad station

Иркутск = Irkutsk

Then, take a tram to the town center

«(...) avec ses coupoles, ses clochetons, ses flèches élancées comme des minarets, ses dômes ventrus comme des potiches japonaises, elle prend un aspect quelque peu oriental.

La ville, moitié byzantine, moitié chinoise, redevient européenne par ses rues macadamisées, bordées de trottoirs, traversées de canaux, plantées de bouleaux gigantesques, par ses maisons de briques et de bois, dont quelques-unes ont plusieurs étages,(...) enfin par toute une catégorie d’habitants très-avancés dans les progrès de la civilisation et auxquels les modes les plus nouvelles de Paris ne sont point étrangères.»

Michel Strogoff, Jules Verne

The Irkutsk Kremlin:

Left, the cathedral; then the polish catholic church and the church of the Saviour.

Epiphany Cathedral ( Bogoyavlenski), 1718 :

The golden bulbs of the ortodox cathedral shine in the morning sun. Built in the russian baroque style, it's façade is decorated with full-body icons of the saints and golden frames, thus gaining an uncommon coloured look.

The Saviour Church , the oldest stone building in Siberia, now a museum:

At any corner you can find interesting architecture:

The Ethnographic Museum

Art Museum (Sukachev collection)

Drama theater (1894)

Chekov wrote, in "Letters from Siberia": «Irkutsk is an intelligent and refined city. (...) It's definitely Europe ! »

But the top issue in Irkutsk is the amazing quantity and variety of wooden architecture, typical of traditional house building in Siberia. Hundreds oh houses, some in ruins, many restored, dating from the 18th and 19th cent. :

The "Europe House"

Wooden lacing

"Your gaze scans the streets as if they were written pages: the city says everything you must think"

The Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino

The wood is pine or cedar, and for strong foundations the very resistent siberian larch.

Well, why "the Paris of Siberia" ? Because in the shopping area you can find «the latest nouveautés from Paris», or you could: today there are mostly international brands and some few local boutiques.

Ul. Uritskogo , the first ever pedestrian street in Russia

Just have a look at the refined "To be Queen" shop, here.

Lake Baikal

« Une immense nappe d’eau se déroulait aux pieds de Michel Strogoff.C’était le lac Baïkal.»

The trans-siberian along southern Baikal

It's the deepest lake on earth (1600 m! ), containing 20% (1/5 !) of the world's freshwater ! For 636 km (almost a sea...) of almost intact coastline, you can find beaches, capes, cliffs, bays, forest - each one unmissable in any other part of the world.

It's climatic influence is also remarkable: in this continental region of deep cold and very hot temperatures (-50º, +37º records ), the temperature around the lake is much smoother.

The Baikal lake is fed by crystal clear water from glaciers and some 300 fastflowing rivers.

Cape Burkhan, one of the most visited sites, and a summer paradise

The Baikal lake is rich in semi-precious stones - : jade, lapis-lazuli, jasper...

At Irkutsk, you can find several options for excursions to the lake : some by train (the Baikal Express line tours around the lake), some by boat, which include a trip to the magnificent Olkhon island, a small paradise known only by few.

If you take the train, there isthe opportunity of visiting the siberian village Listvyanka, where the typical wooden houses are well preserved.

Arctic flora in coming spring

2011-03-21T13:00:00.007Z

Yesterday, March 20, was the spring equinox. Time for renewal and blossom.

Spring is coming back to the arctic some days earlier each year, and while the arctic ice starts to melt, here and there, some little arctic plants and flowers bloom bright in the increasing sunlight and warmth.

During this time the Arctic is a colorful mosaic of flowering species, while the white snow is just a few meters away, in an inconceivable coexistance.

Arctic poppies (Papaver radicatum)

Buttercup (Ranunculus pygmaeus)

Purple Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia)

Moss Campion (Silene acaulis)

Arctic Lupine (Lupinus arcticus)

Bellardi bog sedge (Kobresia Myosuroides)

Snow pearlwort (Sagina nivalis)

Mars on Earth

2011-03-04T20:48:00.044Z

Devon Island is a large island of the canadian Arctic Archipelago, sister of Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island, fantastic worlds of breathtaking National Parks and inuit settlements rich in arts and traditions.
Coordinates 75°08′ N, 87°51′W

But Devon is the largest uninhabited island in the world. The only remains of human presence are some remains of pre-historic Thule people presence 3 500 years ago, the ruins of a Hudsan Bay Co. outpost at Dundas Harbour, and of the Royal Canadian Police station, also moved away years ago; some attempts to establish a settlement there with inuit population failed due to isolation, hard climate and lack of resources.

As for animal life, Devon supports only a meagre population of musk oxen and small birds . An occasional walrus or polar bear also visits the island.

Coastlines around the island are varied and include tall cliffs, sharp slopes, deep fjords, lowlands and areas of beach.

Croker Bay glacier

Amazingly, NASA found that no place on earth is more similar to the martian desert ! So, an experimental station was installed there to train people, try instruments, vehicles and strategies looking for a future adventure in Mars.

The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) is located in a 23 Km diameter crater - Haughton crater, a feature that helps the simulation of martian conditions and is considered Earth's best Mars analog site.

The crater was caused by the fall of a 2 km meteor some 39 million years ago, in an area that was forested at the time.

The station

FMARS was installed in 2000, with a crew of 5 cientists and 2 journalists, who took care of simulating the conditions of life in Mars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashline_Mars_Arctic_Research_Station