18. July 2018
The team of the International Research Training Group "Geo-ecosystems in Transition on the Tibetan Plateau (TransTiP)", funded by DFG, has reached its destination of this year’s field campaign: the research station NAMORS at Lake Nam Co on the Tibetan Plateau. Professor Andreas Hördt from the Institute for Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics reports in a small series of logbook entries about the work at the research station on the roof of the world.
“In the early morning you can already hear the horses neighing. A total of nine horses have been ordered to transport our equipment, tents, sleeping bags and food for four days to a higher altitude, from 5,000 meters to 5,300 meters. The horses are small and lightweight, and can only carry around 30 kilos each. The Tibetan leaders are very experienced in loading, in the end everything fits. First it goes along the river, not too steep, but through rough scree. Then it should have gone up to the right, along a steep stream bed. But it rained too much, the stream has too much water. The base camp must be set up below, about 100 meters lower than planned.
The measurements start the next day. The equipment has to be transported further up with the help of our Tibetan porters. It is tedious, despite the gradual acclimatization you can feel the thin air at this altitude. At night we leave the equipment on top and take only the bare essentials back to the camp. On the second day we are almost at the top, where the satellite data shows the striking movements. Does this relate to permafrost, i.e. soil frozen all year round, or its disappearance? We measure a geoelectrical profile at a height of 5,500 meters. No official statistics are kept, but that could be a world record. Our raw data show values that could be typical for permafrost, but the rough topography makes evaluation difficult. We can't do much up here, especially since we have to conserve the laptops' batteries.
The soft trickle on my tent is actually snow in July. A nice "birthday present" for Björn, whose joy is limited. Fortunately, the snowfall is soon decreasing and measurements were not planned today anyway. Instead, we go back to the first base camp to provide ourselves with new food. Björn, Philipp and I drive further, back to the research station. Johannes and Eike, along with some helpers, stay up there to work for a few more days.”
Text: Professor Andreas Hördt from the Institute of Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics