Iceland Day 3

Dear readers, we are currently sat eating rotten shark, or trying not to vomit from the smell, videos to follow later! We have had a wet day, but we have seen lots, we started out at Laki, and our first stop was the remnants of the old bridge, destroyed in the 1996 Grimsvotn eruption, which now conveniently makes a perfect slide!

We moved on to the visitors centre and took a brisk walk up to the Svartifoss waterfall, a really special waterfall that tumbles over perfect columnar joints, very much like the Giants Causeway, but on a slightly grander scale:

It has been raining pretty heavily all day, but we had our final stop at the really spectacular Ice Lagoon, the one where they filmed the bond movie (Die another day - where they have the big car chase over the ice) and saw a lot of seals, Ed has some fantastic close up shots of a few of them that popped up to the surface, but there were around 15 seals floating around, and some students testing the icebergs (luckily, they float):

We walked from the lagoon over the beach, which was very wet and windy, but did manage to get a few nice shots:

Tomorrow is back to Reykjavik, a swim, another waterfall and a pizza challenge, before home on saturday!

Millie

Sledging!

Hello from Iceland!

Look at what we did yesterday!

Hope you all enjoyed college!

Iceland Day 2

Hello!


We have made it safely through our first day of activities, with a fantastic caving trip to start the morning off, going down a new Lava Tube we have not visited before, we have seen some very bizarre rock formations,  I am not sure how they formed:

In addition, we saw some ceilings covered in Lavasicles, formed as the tube emptied out for the last time:

We posed for some very chilly team photos:

We also managed to get some lovely individual shots of Huish Earth Scientists in action:

Following the caving trip, we went off over a very snowy mountain road in our superbus to Thingvellir national park to stand in the rift valley, and have a good look at the very large hole that opened up the day after we visited last year. The track is now closed, but we spent about an hour looking at the lake, the money pools and the drowing pool:

We then moved rapidly on to Geysir National Park, where we spent some time watching the large eruptions and not getting wet!

And finally, on to Gulfoss, one of the largest waterfalls in Iceland, a spectacular fault guided water fall covered in snow:

Tomorrow is looking wet at the moment, it is raining pretty heavily, but we are off to see more waterfalls, and a nice dry trip around the folk museum, which is one of my favourite spots.

Hello to everyone back home!

Millie

Iceland Day 1

Hello Readers!

we are here in not so sunny Iceland, we got here last night and went straight t the Blue Lagoon which was fantastic, but  little breezy, and had a fantastic dinner at the Cafe Paris, some of us had burgers, some had Icelandic Lamb, a couple had Minke Whale Steaks (!!!???!!). The hotel is lovely and we are off this morning to do some caving in a lava tube before the sleet storms begin this afternoon! Everyone is bundled up with about 6 layers of thermals, but the day looks good, and at the moment, we have a fantastic view across to the Mountains from Rejkavik 101!

Hopefully there will be some pictures later on, enjoy the sunny weather back home!

Iceland Weather

Dear All

A quick update on the weather in Iceland, and a slight change to the itinerary. At the moment, it is looking lovely in Iceland, but by monday evening when we arrive, it looks very, very wet:

As such, please make sure that you have put your waterproofs in your day sack, or even better,wear them on the plane, as you do not want to start the trip wet and cold. If you are not appropriately dressed each day, you are staying on the bus! I think some waterproof trousers are going to be important this year.

Other things to have in your hand luggage:


English Money for breakfast - we will stop on the way up, and there is some time in the airport

Swimmers - no towel needed in the Blue Lagoon

Icelandic Money - you may wish to buy a snack at the Blue Lagoon

Extra layer for post Blue Lagoon warmth

Hat - essential

Passport - I will be checking these when you arrive in the morning


Departure Time: 0545 (morning time on MONDAY)

The Kit List again:

KEEPING WARM

·         Layering is the key to retaining body heat because air is trapped between the layers and therefore ‘insulates’ your body from the cold.

·         Several thin layers are more effective than any one thick garment.

·         Woollen fabrics are better insulators than synthetic fabrics such as nylon or polyester.

·         Some modern fabrics are excellent, allowing water vapour to pass through without losing any heat.

·         Don’t forget your legs! Warm trousers (not jeans) are essential, but bring light ones for summer and always bring waterproof trousers whatever the time of year.

·         ... on your feet! Thick woollen socks are best (not nylon)

·         A Hat! Needed all year – more heat is lost through the head than any other part for the body. A warm one for winter that also can cover the ears is good. A scarf is essential October to April to protect the neck.

·         Gloves (waterproof): frozen fingers hurt, wet fingers lose heat: uncovered wrists can have significant heat loss.

·         Depending on the weather, anything between 1 and 5 layers will be required.

Suggested layers:                    Base layer of a thermal vest/long johns if cold

                                                        Cotton T-shirt if warm

                                                        Collared shirt/rugby top or polo sweater (scarf if not polo)

                                                        Woollen/breathable fleece/sweater

                                                        Insulated jacket/fleece

                                                        Waterproof outer garments (top and bottom)

If going in summer, then 3 layers would be normal (and include shorts just in case!!). Whatever time of year, be prepared to carry an extra layer in your daysack.

WARNING: Overheating (too many layers) can be as debilitating and dangerous as getting cold, so don’t start your day looking like an arctic explorer/Michelin man or woman by wearing everything!

KEEPING DRY

·         Getting wet leads to cold/heat loss which can lead to hypothermia which is very serious

·         A fully waterproof out garment is ABSOLUTELY essential. Beware of misleading claims common amongst cheaper brands of nylon-based garments. Gore-Tex, Paramo or similar fabric is advisable.

·         Waterproof trousers are a must.

STAYING UPRIGHT

·         Boots are essential! Trainers, however expensive, are no substitute as they don’t give you ankle support. Wellington boots are not to be used as although they are waterproof, they’re useless for gripping on wet rocks.

·         Please don’t feel obliged to spend a small fortune on 4-season boots which may only be used for a week. Any waterproof with a vibram or similar moulded rubber sole will be adequate. Please wear them in before going to Iceland

INDOOR CLOTHING

The places where we stay are warm and comfortable and so you will need light clothing and footwear (eg trainers) to change into during the evening.

OTHER EQUIPMENT

·         Sunglasses – all year round there’s a high albedo (reflection of sunlight) off snow and ice. They also protect you from dust-storms if there are high winds blowing off ash areas. Contact lens users may wish to bring ‘goggles’.

·         A small day-sack – big enough to carry spare jumper/waterproofs plus packed lunch, drinks bottle, camera etc

·         Sun-block cream in the warmer months

PERSONAL

·         Towel (suitable for when swimming)

·         Swim-wear

·         Personal Toiletries

·         Personal medications (staff responsible need to be aware and informed of any prescribed medications)

OTHER USEFUL THINGS TO HAVE

·         Thermos flask (or water bottle in summer)

·         A seriously LARGE block of chocolate (chocolate is ridiculously expensive to buy in Iceland) or multiple packs

·         Camera (don’t forget charging and download cables as well as spare batteries)

·         Plasters and paracetamol etc

·         Writing paper, pens, pencils

·         Plastic bags

PERSONAL STEREOS & OTHER ELECTRICAL ITEMS

For reasons of safety, the use of personal stereos/ipods etc with head-phones/ear pieces is not permitted when out in the field. Batteries will be expensive in Iceland so bring your own spare ones. You must have your own personal insurance for any such items

GROUP/INDIVIDUAL SAFETY

·         Rules and regulations will be kept to a minimum

·         When instructions are given, they are given for a reason ... YOUR SAFETY!

·         Follow all instructions from your staff/party leader

·         Disregarding any instructions will be viewed as being a serious breach of discipline

WE, the staff, rely heavily on YOU to make this a successful, enjoyable and memorable experience: we are a team together!

You have the emergency contact details, if not:

Most mobiles will work in Iceland, and if you need to get in touch, please call or text one of the trip mobiles. Alternatively, during the day time, use the main college number and they will get a message to us through the duty manager, Martyn Owen. If you have an out of hours emergency, Rob Setchell is our designated emergency contact, and will be able to get in touch with us at any time.

Trip Mobile Numbers: 07583298460/07825630026

College Number: 01823 320800 –Duty Manager Martyn Owen

Emergency Contact:  Rob Setchell - 07712 611653

We plan to arrive back at RHC on Saturday the 24^{th at} around 4:30pm, we will ask students to call you an hour before arriving with an accurate update. There will be limited internet access on the trip, but hopefully, you will be able to follow us through the Geography Blog.

Any questions, get in touch with me quickly!

Iceland Clothing

A post specifically for those coming to Iceland! Below you will find the letters, kit list, itinerary and the PP for the parents meeting embedded so you can show you parents all the information they need.

Iceland 2012

First: clothing!


The key to staying warm in Iceland is Layers. You should be wearing something similar to the list below, and the reason for using a layered system, is that we are on and off the bus a lot, and that involves a temperature change of at least 10 degrees, sometimes as much as 25 degrees, hence, you need to be able to adapt to that quite quickly.


In my opinion, the key thing to ensure you have, is a good base layer, this should be a material that wicks away moisture from your skin, so you don't go out into the cold all sweaty, which is how you get cold fast. I normally wear a t-shirt over mine, they are sometimes a little transparent, followed by a good fleecy jumper (I take two) a soft shell layer (wind proof but not water proof) and covering all of that, a good waterproof.

These images are reproduced from Taunton Leisure, with permission, they currently have a sale on but I am not endorsing either the brands shown, or the store, this is for illustration only!

http://www.tauntonleisure.com/

Few key points:


1) most important - looks don't matter for this week! Fashion, should not be a factor in deciding what to take, we don't really go out, when we do, you will want to be wearing all of the above anyway.


2) not to pick on the girls, but... No miniskirts, high heels, telling me tights will keep you warm - they won't.


3) if you are not appropriately dressed - you get to stay on the bus. That decision rests with me, you have been warned.


4) don't go out and buy the really expensive mountaineering kit - you don't need it, we are not going all Ray Mears, you just need to be sensible


5) buy new boots? Please break them in before you get to Iceland, y don't want blisters.


Secondly: Money


You may wish to buy some souvenirs, they will be expensive, so take an appropriate amount of money with you. If you would like to buys snacks, a chocolate bar and a can of drink will cost you around £4 at the moment, I recommend you take some snacks with you, the healthy variety such as dried fruits and nuts travel well and are good for you, but wee do not stop very often at places where you can buy a snack, they are included as part of your lunch, but if you do tend to eat more during the day, plan for this and take some with you.


A note on Icelandic foods: they run from the mundane and Starchy, to the outright bizarre (fermented rams testicles, shark rotted in its own urine etc) and sometimes, to the borderline ethical issues. Icelanders eat whale, and are relatively defencive about it. students in the stats have elected to buy a sample of said smoked minke whale, a staple of the Icelandic diet, that is up to you.


Third: Alcohol


The legal drinking age in Iceland is 20, as such, any one caught drinking, attempting to buy, or taking alcohol with them, will be sent home. Your parents will be advised of this in the meeting. The cost of being sent home sits with you, at times we are three hundred miles away fr an airport, in the most expensive country in Europe, that taxi will cost you several hundred pounds. Having spent £850 on the trip, please don't ruin it for yourself, and the staff by breaking this rule.


Fourth: Stuff to take


Realistically, you should pack to be outdoors, in a cold country, without much socialising in any fancy places. Nick and I look like Michelin men all week, you will too with all those layers, so don't worry about evening clothes, I take a pair of jeans for the evening, but you will need to stay wrapped up. You certainly don't need to take the following: party clothes, hair dryers, straighteners, footballs, laptops etc.


Other highly recommended items include: music, earphones, cards, a book, travel sickness pills, chargers, personal toiletries etc.


Other essentials: a sleeping bag, a hat, gloves, scarf/neck warmer, sunglasses ( it might be cold, but it is very, very bright, especially on the ice), any personal medication (legally, the staff are not allow to give you anything), hats are absolutely necessary, and a scarf is pretty handy.

Iceland Kit Letter to Parents Itinerary for Richard Huish College 2012

Iceland day 3!

We are at the moment driving across the Sandur, a vast volcanic plain, formed through glacial outbursts or Jokulhaulps. The last of these, from Grimsvotn in 1996. The landscape is littered with the remains of old bridges, that sometimes last only a few days, and are often destroyed in order to allow the flood waters to pass through. There has been much stabilization of the sandur with planting of resistant plants which aim to capture Aeolian sediments and protect the main ring road. This road is quite an accomplishment for Iceland, the vast sandur's present a significant risk to those attempting to cross the,.The villages and the towns in the East depend on it now as a main route to the capitol, but before that, the options were to cross the mountain glaciers, dangerous in the case of Vatnajokul which has the largest geothermal system in Europe underneath it, or to try to cross the hundreds of glacial fed rivers. The alternative is to drive around the rest of the coastal road to the north, not exactly a short cut! If you go it wrong, as would have been easy with Grimsvotn, as the flood occurred six weeks after the eruption, and rose to 5m high, you risk being washed away with boulders the size of houses! Here is a picture taken looking out across the Sandur that clearly shows some of the management in place for glacial floods:

The wing dykes are a means of diverting flow away from roads and bridges that would be more expensive to repair. There are many of these all over Iceland, as the ring road is often destroyed over the winter periods in different places. 

After this we headed to the Glacial Lagoon, Jokulsarlon, where the Bond movie was filmed, this is a proglacial lake, formed as the glacier retreats and deposits material in a terminal morraine, then fills with water behind it. This one is connected to the sea, and creates a spectacular black beach littered with icebergs. We did manage to see some seals in the lagoon, they are to two tiny black dots in the middle!

The ice is filled with tiny bubbles, which we will be using as proxy evidence for climate change very soon in class. We can measure the relative proportions of gases in the bubbles and from that calcualte atmospheric composition and temperature. They are also remarkably pretty:

The shores of the lake, which is brackish water are also coated in smaller icebergs which can take many years to melt if they are large enough. The concern over the lake is that the coastline is eroding due to lack of fresh input of sediment from eruptions, and rising sea levels, if there is no replenishment, the river mouth will soon reach the lake, the morraines will be destroyed and the ice will be gone:

Finally, the beach, blue icebergs, black sand and white waves, enough said:

There are times in Iceland's history when these floods cause significant growth of the land, in fact they depend on much of the material as without it, coastal towns like Vik, where we stopped for souvenirs, are more at threat from coastal erosion as the sediment is removed by the high energy waves but not replenished at the same rate. The last Katla eruption in 1918 extended the southern coastline by 4km in 24 hours. Katla and Hekla are both overdue! Maybe replenishment will come soon, though preferably not while we are out here!!!

Iceland Day 2!

Today was a real Icelandic experience! We have had the full range in weather, from sunny and warm, to sleet and driving rain! It would be fair to say all our waterproofs were fully tested today, and not all of them made it through! (unfortunately my own trousers fall into that category)

We started the day with a trip to a fantastic waterfall Skaftelfoss (? - spelling to be amended when i can find an Icelander to ask). This is the one you can walk all the way behind on a wide ledge, and look out across the Glacial flood plains through the water:

For the more adventurous/well dressed, you can stand underneath the falling water, for a few minutes at most! As demonstrated by these students! (This may have been the downfall of many of the failed waterproofs today)

 

from there, we went to another unpronounceable waterfall, which for those of you in either mine or Nikkis's classes will have seen at least once on one of the many Iain Stewart documentaries. This is the one he Paraglided off from, and used (for those who can remember it) in the rather dramatic Scottish widows video:

If you came on the trip and are reading this in retrospect, can you spot the waterfalls, the coastline and arches and waterfalls we went too, as well as a particularly infamous lava flow? Let me know if you've worked it out! This started out as a wet stop, but we did manage to get some great photos, like this one:

From here it was on to the southern coastline, which is filled with spectacular coastal features such as arches and stacks, and some huge caves. A couple of members of staff had to make a desperate run for shore when a very large wave took them by surprise, and we had a nice walk along the top of one of these arches. The marine energy is high in Iceland for a couple of reasons, firstly, the Gulf stream is important for Iceland, as much of the North Atlantic deep water sinks just to south, and this sinking motion at the northern most tip of the gulf stream, helps to drag warm water across from the Gulf of Mexico, which in turn, gives the UK its nice CTWM climate. Secondly, there is no land to the south of Iceland until you hit Antarctica! So there is a large fetch, plenty of wind, and finally, lots of deep depressions from the passage of the Rossby waves in the Polar Jet. 

The interplay between the high energy and hard rock coastlines produces some textbook landforms. The Arches and stacks tend to form in the lava flows on the coastline which are in some cases well over 100m thick. Dyrhouley coastline has a series of arches, as pictured, filled with seabirds whose main defense mechanism is to produce smelly vomit to coat their attackers.

Here's Nick doing his best Geographer pose!

And some nicely silhouetted students by the sea:

After lunch, we went on to the Sandur, and drove through the Laki Lava fields, a truly impressive, if menacing reminder of the power of some of these Icelandic volcanoes. Laki erupted and formed these lava fields in 1783, the fissure was a typical Icelandic eruption and was over 24km long and with over 100 active craters. The eruption lasted several months, releasing enough CO2 and SO2 to affect global climates for a few years afterwards. The lava covers an area of 600 square KM, the same size as the Somerset Levels, the immediate area during the eruption was utterly destroyed, the lava flows over 60km from its source, drying up the glacial rivers and utilizing their beds in order to flow downhill efficiently. The lava is unusual, it has a high concentration of fluorine, poisonous to both humans and animals in large quantities, it has however, led to the formation of some really spectacular moss, it is thick, often over 6 inches thick, and a very bright green, but that is all that grows here, other vegetation would not have anywhere near enough soil to grown here (think succession and pedogenesis – 3000 years to form 1m of soil and this eruption created a new lithosere)

So, we finished the day with an outstanding dinner of roasted Icelandic Lamb, with sweat potatoes and chocolate pudding, and added a Huish Cairn to the Cairn Field:

Iceland Day 1

Dear All

A few things from the Iceland trip so far! Firstly, it is cold here, not as cold as it was when we dd weather in class, but icy!!

Todays activity was caving, more on that later, looking at the Rift Valley and the Inland Lake, and then one of Icelands most impressive waterfalls, Gullfoss.

So, the Rift Valley first of all, it was a great start to the trip, placing the day in context with the tectonics of the region. The Rift Vally is one f Icealnds main features, and divides the country nearly in two, most major fracture zones run parallel to it, and within it are some of the islands most significant landforms. It is in effect, a smaller version of the East African Rift Valley, a low lying area, very marshy in this case, filled with lakes and volcanoes, and to which many rivers flow towards. On a more cultural note, it is also the location of the worlds earliest, and still active parliament (Þingvellir). It is a particularly pretty spot, and the Parliament (below) is located on the easternmost edge of the North American Plate, and in fact, you can put one foot on either plate in parts of the rift. Where the plates are pulling apart through rifting, a series of normal extensional faults has caused the land in the centre, this photo is taken looking down the junction between the two, the cliff on the left is the American, and the cliff on the right is the European plates:

The Rift is a very pretty area, which we were due to go underneath in our caving adventure, and adventure it was! We went down into an old lava tube, formed from the cooling of the exterior of the lava flows, and where it is insulated in the middle, the lava continues to flow, often collapsing to form the often photographed skylights in Hawaii. Ours was around 7000 years old, but made a tube roughly 5 by 5m througout. The cave was rather icy, and had some spectacular ice formations waiting for us, like these:

Along with the stalacmites of ice, the stalactites where also pretty impressive:

On emerging from the cave, there were a full variety of facial expressions, some obviously thrilled with their caving experiences, some rather relieved to be out of the snow!

See the facebook page after we get back for more photos!

Next up, after a short drive, we were at Geysir National Park. There are some videos of both mud pots and geysirs, but they are particularly difficult to photograph! However, the pools of silica saturated water that were a variety of shades of blue were fantastic, here are two:

The videos and many more pictures will be uploaded into the blog when we return and have a more steady internet connection! Last stop of the day was Gullfoss, a huge fault guided waterfall with two main sections. At low flow (really) this year, the waterfall was impressive, with clear blue waters from its glacial source. Gullfoss is one of the most impressive waterfalls i have ever seen, unfortunately it had got a bit overcast by then, but still well worth a look!

The next post will hopefully be tonight, filled with moss, more waterfalls and some rather wet students, but we have just had a truly fantastic roast lamb dinner with Eva's secret recipe gravy. Yum.