Camp III: Audhild Bay

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Resolute Bay

Camp I: Dragon Creek,
Axel Heiberg

ï Expedition Fiord Region

ï Agate Fiord Region

Camp II: Blackwelder Mtns,
Ellesmere Island

Camp III: Audhild Bay,
Ellesmere Island

ï Hansen Point Region

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Our third and final camp was perched on a Paleozoic reef presently located on the south shores of Audhild Bay on northern Ellesmere Island. This region is poorly mapped and even less well understood. There are numerous and successive volcanic floors across the peninsula, and our primary goals at this camp were to collect paleomagnetic cores and whole rock samples from each flow. Back in Rochester, we hope that this collection will yield detailed magnetostratigraphy. These data, in conjunction with numerous petrographic investigations, will hopefully provide some answers to where there rocks came from, when they erupted, and where they fit into a regional tectonic picture.

Panoramic view of our sampling area. Camp is located beyond the glacier at lower right. Two flows are very distinct on the facing slope, with others above and below. Audhild Bay, and Kleybolt Peninsula behind it, are in the upper right corner.

From the top of a flow across the river, we can look down and see camp (center) and the huge Permian reef complex behind it.
We could see much of our surroundings from camp (lower right of center), including this large block of fault "dragged" strata seen at center.
A closer view of the fault "dragged" block, as seen from camp. Notice the gently dipping strata at right rapidly change dip. This blocked moved up with respect to the valley in the foreground.
The flows as we saw them from camp. The steep ridges are basalt, while the more gently sloping ground between them is rhyolite and other subareal volcanics. The dark dot in the center of the circle is Rory, Santo, and Allyson working their way up to the next flow.
Drilling PMAG cores. Pete tries to start the drill, while Allyson stands ready to pump water through the bit to flush out rock chips and powder that could damage the bit and core. The Matts finish ferrying water up from the river, hundreds of feet below.
We started sampling at river level and worked our way up to younger flows. We often had to hike over hundreds of meters up and kilometers across muddy rhyolite fields and blocky talus slopes to reach the next flow. However, the hikes were complimented by beautiful views, like this one of Audhild Bay and the heavily glaciated Kleybolt Peninsula that rises behind Allyson, Matt P., Santo, and Matt F.
John and Pete drill cores from the sixth flow. The flow in the background in the lower right corner is the one to the right of the red circle in the picture above.
A close-up of the drilling process. The diamond-tipped bit slowly cuts its way into the rock forming a 1 inch core approximately 6 inches long. Pete pumps water into the bit to keep it cutting efficiently. We drill a minimum of six usable cores at each sampling site.
After each set of cores has been drilled, they must be oriented using a sun compass (magnetic compasses are unreliable at this latitude). Here Rory measures each core's unique set of orientations while Allyson records them in a field book. Back in Rochester, these data will be used to correctly determine the magnetic directions in each of the samples.
Sometimes our hikes lead us to an impasse, like this steep glacial ravine. Our only option is a hike up the edge of the ravine and then back down.
Higher and higher still. We enjoyed unseasonably great weather while in Audhild Bay, despite our tempestuous days of our arrival and departure.
This is why we kept climber higher: more flows to sample. The river in this picture is the one that flows below our camp.

This is another reason we kept climber higher: the view. From left to right along the horizon: the 1500' Svartevaeg Cliffs of Axel Heiberg Island,
Nansen Sound, Krueger Island, Bjarne Strait, and Kleybolt Peninsula.

This is a picture of a two-tiered flow above camp. The lower flow is oxidized red and has pervasive columnar joints.
This view of the flow-field above camp was captured from our helicopter. The many successive flows we sampled are to the right. At center is a volcanic plug with large columnar joints. We named it Old Baldy.
Old Baldy was such a prominent figure in our surroundings that we could not pass up the opportunity to inspect it. This is one side of the plug, showing the characteristic polygonal shape of the large columns. Rory and Allyson orient the last cores of the day.
Old Baldy: First ascent, July 28, 2000; Polizzatto, Marciano, Friedman, and Lippert.
Not to be mistaken for a North Face advertisement, this is what we called home for the month of July: a 39 square-foot tent with all the amenities: Arctic postureputic (two ThermaRests), warm sleeping bag, clotheslines, and large vestibule for stinky (very stinky) boots. Check those socks at the door, too.