Traveling west from Leeds, a rail line crosses the Pennine Range in a region of broad, low hills. I got off the train at the great old station that serves the town of Hebden Bridge, and hiked up through a patchwork of deciduous and conifer forest, stone-walled sheep pastures, and the open, uncultivated high country […]

This will be a short post for a long day. Kelly and I drove about 500 km and collected samples in some strong winds and sleet. There have been some real gusts coming through. Kelly is repackaging samples in the hotel bathtub while I send out these notes. Between the field laboratory in the bathroom […]

This morning we got back on ice-packed Highway 1 and continued east. Our goal was to collect dust samples below a series of outlet glaciers that drain the Vatnajökull ice cap. As we drove, the falling snow gave way to fine sleet, and after an hour it let up. The visual impact of long, cloud-free […]

Election night in Iceland! We’ve got our American flag (5-inches wide) proudly flying in the hotel and our ballots in the mail. I imagine you wearing your ‘I Voted’ stickers and listening to the election results come in over the radio tonight. Kelly and I will be eager to read the news tomorrow morning. The […]

Amid the fierce gales of the Atlantic, the nation of Iceland clings to the mid-Atlantic Ridge like lichen on a warm rock. This is an island of extreme contrasts: high peaks drop sharply to sea level, glaciers grow on the slopes of active volcanoes, and coastal deserts run out to the ocean.These contrasts have resulted […]