Treeline near Dease River
On the 25th day of their trek across the tundra of northern Canada, the snow-machining explorers of SnowSTAR 2007: Barrenlands Traverse reached the village of Kugluktuk in western edge of Nunavut, and began preparing for their 20-day crossing of the rocky, windswept Barrenlands, the unforgiving tundra beyond the comfort of spruce.
For the past two days, the guys have been working on their snowmachines, repairing equipment and visiting with high school students in the remote village and talking to local artists. It’s the longest break of their trip so far.
On Day 27, April 11, they expected to launch on the next lonely leg.
Bobby Nokalak Anavilak
One of their new friends was carver Bobby Nokalak Anavilak, who showed off a polar bear he was carving from local soapstone and dolomite. Many carvers work in the village of 1,362 residents. Once known as Coppermine, the village is the most westerly village of Nunavut, nestled along the Coronation Gulf of the Arctic Ocean. The Canadian Atlas offers a statement from students about their heritage.
While some members visited with students and villagers, the expedition’s wizard-mechanic, Jon, had to spend time dismantling one of the snow machines to try to repair a leaky seal. In the modern era, the ability to handle a torque wrench and sockets may be as much a survival skill in the Far North as reading wind drifts and following caribou tracks.
The journey has now taken them along an almost mythic geographic feature: The Treeline. A daily dispatch explores its meaning.
A prominent feature of much of the Arctic is that there are no trees. The treeless region is known as the tundra. Other parts of the Arctic, likes places throughout the world, have forests. In the Arctic, the forests are typically known as “taiga,” which we described in an earlier dispatch. The boundary between the taiga and the tundra is the treeline.
The location of treeline is determined largely by climate. If the average temperature in July is more than 50oF (10oC), then trees can survive. If the average temperature is lower, then trees cannot survive. The quality of the soil and the availability of water are also important.
New spruce near Dismal LakesIn some places, the treeline is an abrupt line. In others, the trees gradually get smaller and fewer, with little stands here and there in protected areas, until eventually there are none left. As the earth’s climate warms, trees can survive in new areas. One measure of climate change is the extent to which trees have moved into new areas, typically north of where they used to be.
Life at treeline is harsh, which is one of the reasons the trees move north slowly. Until a dense forest is established, blowing snow can kill the lower branches of trees (flag tree), or kill the trees themselves.
The expedition is spending 45 days on a 3,000-kilometer (1,864-mile) snowmachine journey across the tundra of Alaska and Canada, from Fairbanks to Baker Lake in the far reaches of Nunavut. Most days, they update a map showing their progress across the Far North.
Along the way, the five Americans and three Canadians will visit dozens of historic Arctic sites, 11 villages and two diamond mines. They will stop to take detailed measurements of snow and climate, visit schools, gather traditional knowledge — and then share their insights with students and teachers across the world through daily on-line dispatches. Children from around the world have been sending in comments and questions.