ICELINK in the Field

Photos/text by Kieran Baxter/Fleur van Bemmel

28 May 2025 – A team 24-members strong departed today for the Icelandic Glaciology Society’s annual spring field trip to Vatnajökull, Iceland’s largest ice cap. Four members of this team are in the ICELINK consortium, including: Eyjólfur Magnússon, scientist at the University of Iceland; Hrafnhildur Hannesdóttir, scientist from the Icelandic Met Office; Kieran Andrew Baxter,…

01 June 2025 – Jöklarannsóknafélag Íslands is the Icelandic Glaciological Society where many different parties get together to collaborate on glacier reseach collaborate. Two of ICELINK’s partners, the Icelandic MET Office and the University of Iceland, are part of this society, allowing ICELINK fieldwork to be coordinated with Jöklarannsóknafélag Íslands. This year, determining location for…

02 June 2025 – The ICELINK borehole on Vatnajökull needs to be drilled at a location with only ice and no subglacial water structures along its length. To find this location, an ice penetrating survey was executed at the ice divide between the main outlet glaciers of the ice cap. A radio signal is transmitted…

03 Jun 2025 – Packed and ready to move, the team wait for a go/no-go decision on whether it is safe to travel down off of the ice cap today. Finally it was decided to wait out the storm for another day at least. With wind speeds over 20 mps (72 kph) whipping across the…

08 Jun 2025 – The team find different ways to beat cabin fever in bad weather. A lot of progress is being made reading books, knitting and even some wood crafting while others take the opportunity to document the storm. With plenty of provisions and good company, life inside the huts is a world away…

10 Jun 2025 – After three days of being inside the huts at Grímsfjall, the team woke up to much calmer weather. During breakfast, it became clear that this would be the day to leave Grímsfjall behind and travel off the ice cap.  Whilst most of the personal belongings were already packed, many other tasks…