Samples-aweigh

Today was our last moss-rolling, sledge weilding,  dirt road wandering day. With a grand total of 98 samples packed away in the red-hot ford focus we're heading to Rovaniemi tomorrow to prepare our samples to be shipped to Canada. Then comes a short flight to Helsinki and on Tuesday evening I'll be back home in Canada!

one of our last quartzite outcrops

The weather has clearly changed in recent days. You can feel the cold is arriving - we spotted some well equipped speed walkers with mittens this afternoon (although mittens were not at all necessary).

Now, I'm looking forward to seeing what these rocks have to say!

Whimsical

Evidence of a paleo weathered surface was obscured by an overgrown Finnish jungle. So I became distracted by settled rain drops in the micro-jungle. 

The Moose Fly

This is by far one of the most horrendous bugs I've encountered recently.  The caliber of "yuck" we're dealing with is comparable to earwigs, maggots, or centipedes. The moose fly is guaranteed to make your skin crawl. I promise I will do everything I can to prevent a hitchhiker accompanying me to Canada.

They sit and wait on a bush for a tasty specimen (such as it's namesake, the moose. Otherwise other victims include reindeer and humans). With sight of the first proximal passerby they hop on, drop their wings and make camp. Not only do they bite, helping themselves to a seemingly endless supply of blood, but they also mate on their host. I believe, however, that their eggs are laid on the forest floor (or wherever the poor sucker lays down for a rest). 

on the run

The first indication that a moose fly has selected you for it's home is the unforgettable sensation of it's exploration of your scalp. Once you notice that there's something crawling around up there, the instinctual pinch does nothing. They have incredibly effective claws which inevitably lead to a panic inducing struggle (and potential hair loss). 

I found this one crawling around in the morning while brushing my hair. Even showers don't scare these suckers away. The reality of a morning discovery is not something I'm ready to fully acknowledge and instead I am comforted by the fact that we have returned to Sodankyla which seems to be too far north for these bastards to call home.

Para-para-paragniess

Paradise by coldplay is my metamorphic theme song. Last year in the nuvuaggituk belt it was stuck in my head and it returned the day I met the Archean paragneisses of Eastern Finland.

It was bound to happen

An essential shortcoming 

more rocks. need more rocks

And then two days later we got TWO flats at the same time

The life of fungi

Reminds me of a crumpet . . .

Porphyroblast envy

And ya lose sight of the big picture ;)

The reindeer are in charge

Ketoon Ketoon Peip!

Everyday ends with a refreshing cold beer

Despite the look on this guys face, it's really not that bad at all. I like it.

A day around Moooooskavaara

She's got a middle part and all the attitude. 

The juicy stuff :)

Community bonding in Sodankyla

The fantastic sport of WATERCROSS.

It's such a shame that your snowmobile sits in a shed half the year, isn't it? Well, why not race them on the river in front of the whole community. Not to mention there's plenty of beer and greasy (deliciously so) food. This was an absolute hoot!

From my Mother's side?

An ant hill that probably reaches up to my shoulders . . I kept a very safe distance

Favourites from Tallinn

Helsinki 2.0

Blueberry and banana crepe cone with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

Alexander II and church.

Helsinki

At the harbour the morning before I discovered  crepe cones.

Glaucous gull... waiting for a free meal.

Harbour front cuisine. 

Sarah, what are you doing?

I ask myself this more regularly than I'd care to admit. And the ugly truth is that I don't know exactly. But what I do know is what I think I am going to do. Well, this could be very dangerous. Just like in life, in science, these are two very distinct things.

The simplest answer is that I'm going on a 47 day trip to Finland to collect samples for my PhD (how ridiculous is that?). I land in Helsinki and then a few days later I'll head north to Santa's village, Sodankyla. Although, I hear he's taken a liking to the trending geriatric getaway that is Florida. I'm assured it's not for the sport of alligator hunting (or is that crocodiles?). Anyways, I'm headed slightly north of  the arctic circle all for the purpose of continental reconstruction. Remember Pangea? Well, we're working to reconstruct a supercontinent called Superia that came well before. Pangea, at ~270 - 200 million years old, is a baby compared to Superia. The rocks I'll be looking at could date back to 2500 - 2050 million years old. Our beautiful Earth has been alive for a very long time and I find that absolutely fascinating.

So the rocks that I want to look at aren't actually what THE Superia supercraton were made of exactly... instead, that's what my rocks are sitting on. So the idea goes that we had these continents as happy as can be just floating along. All of a sudden we get magmatic activity and that activity (resulting in the magmatic rocks that I will study) is what drove continental breakup.

But why? Why did continental break up occur then? And why did continents form in the first place? All these questions. I could go into more detail but I've got a pizza in the oven that needs my attention.

There's a lesson on priority.

Memory lane

Thinking back on a full decade of travel it's hard to believe the fortune I've already had. In lieu of my upcoming trip to Finland I thought it would be fun, albeit horribly cliche, to revisit the places I've seen. Before outright bragging begins I'd like to say that I am incredibly thankful for those memories and for the people who made them so special. To those responsible for organizing trips, roommates who unknowingly signed on for months of living with me (a grand total 15 people who've actually agreed to live with me before getting to know me. You brave, wonderful souls) and to my parents, grandparents, and brother for innumerable trips to and from the airport, thank you.

Spain, 2005.

My first trip abroad was during Spring break of March 2005 when I participated in an exchange program that brought me to Zaragoza, Spain. It was my first trip on a plane and at the time I remember thinking that was the final travel frontier. I hadn't yet considered spacecraft as a realistic option but, let me tell you, things have changed. 

A view of the ophiolite complex, the tablelands, from the top
of Gros Morne Mountain, 2008. It's on this mountain that I saw
my first ptarmigan (my love of their fuzzy little feet once
brought a fountain of tears to my eyes).

My luck continued into my undergrad when I spent not one but two fantastic summers in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador. My job with parks Canada, as a GIS assistant, was thanks to the Young Canada Works program, something that I believe has since been unfortunately cut from the government budget. It's in Gros Morne that I gained the experience with GIS that eventually led me to a Masters thesis on Venusian geology.

Western brook pond fiord just at the beginning of the long range traverse.
Newfoundland and GMNP remains my most favourite place and I'm 
perfectly fine with that never changing. July 2008.

Before I get too ahead of myself though, I have to talk about my trip Iceland in August of 2009. Yes, we did see volcanoes and yes I did get a course credit. It was a fantastic trip complete with geysers, bubbling mud pits, the infamous Hekkla volcano and breathtaking columnar basalts. Iceland made way for more travel as I realized the efficiency and brilliance of the two week field course. During my masters I took full advantage of that invention and completed another geology-related field trip to Nevada and California.

My partner in all things silly, Allison, near a glacier in Southern
Iceland. August 2009

I spent the summer between my undergrad and masters in Canada's version of the Big apple, at least in the eastern region, Toronto. While it was quite a contrast to my previous summers in Rocky Harbour, I enjoyed every second of it. Of course, a big reason for the success of that summer was thanks to my roommates who welcomed me into their home with wide open arms. I finished the summer of 2010 with a whirlwind trip to Scotland. In the ten days I was there it rained on us only once, I got a tan and discovered a temporary appreciation for scotch.

Many summer nights were spent on the rooftop with this view on to Dundas
street west and the AGO. Summer 2010

Following the completion of my M.Sc, I spent the fall months of 2012 under the glow of the Aurora Borealis in Nunavut working for a small exploration company. My parents bought me a great camera for Christmas in 2010 so my picture taking became infinitely better (and then I brought it into the mine where it got destroyed by dust. Words of advice: never bring your own fancy equipment into a mine. never. Also, always wear your dust mask, hard hat and don't give your map away to anyone.)

A beautiful sunset looking onto Contwoyto Lake on one of my first nights in
Nunavut, September 2012.

They're fluffy and I love them. October 2012

From a helicopter to boot. October 2012

The Aurora Borealis on a cold evening, November 2012

Just after sunrise around 9:30 am or so, November 2012.

And then . . . 

My contract with the exploration company ended in December of 2012 and I returned home to Ottawa, enjoyed Christmas vacation and, of course, attended a rather eventful New Years Eve party. There, a chance conversation with a friend led to a full time job as a geologist at a small gold mine in the Chilean Andes. 

One of my first days on the job, January 2013. 

A beautiful summer morning, February 2014.

The view from my core logging office, January 2014

This was taken just before I planned to visit my family in June of 2013.
We got over 11 m of snow that season (while it sounds like a lot, that was
actually below average ).

I lived in South America for a year and half. I learned Spanish. I learned that Spanish is best understood after a glass of red wine (and that pisco is best enjoyed in moderation). I ran a marathon in Torres del Paine and I walked the Inca trail in Peru. I was introduced to Salteñas in Bolivia and I ate a steak the size of my head in Mendoza. 

A view of what I believe is Lago Toro at the starting line of my
first marathon. It was very early in the morning.
September 2013.

At a stop along the way to Machu Picchu, March 2014. 

Boats at the harbour in Puno Bolivia on
Lake Titicaca, April 2014.

At the Uyuni Salt flats, April 2014.

Arbol de piedra, Bolivia. April 2014. 

Geothermal fields that remind me of Iceland. Bolivia, April 2014. 

At the Ninu Mayu Dinosaur footprints. A little puppy
followed us a very long way. April 2014

She was full of energy! April 2014

At one of my last stops in Argentina I visited Purmarca, which boasts this 
stunning hillside known as the mountain of 7 colours. May 2014

Since moving back to Ottawa a little over a year ago I haven't gone on any more long term wild adventures. Last summer, after about a month in and around Timmins, I got to see a snapshot of the Ungava Peninsula, a barren but incredibly beautiful landscape. A geologist's dream considering the outcrop exposure. And then there's Colorado. I've now skied and hiked there. It's also a geologist's dream - ghost towns, outcrop and microbrew.

On my new pair of cross country skis (and my birthday), November 2014.

It's been a fantastic journey so far and I can't describe how excited I am about what's coming next.