Not another fjord!

Having spent the last 3 weeks doing fieldwork for my PhD in northern Norway (mostly in Finnmark, above 70˚ North), I've seen A LOT of fjords! So many in fact that they are all starting to look the same... very pretty, very U-shaped, and flanked by spectacular mountains. Above is a fjord, and below is another one.... the nicest one I've seen so far, Langfjord (translated to Long fjord... Norwegians aren't great at imaginative names.)

I have a ton more pictures of much the same looking fjords and mountains, some of them have boats in them even. Here's a fjord with a boat...

Northern Norway is truly an amazing place. Being so far north one would expect it to be uninhabitable, and rather unfriendly to human life in general, however this is clearly not the case given the number of german tourists that appear to completely take over the region during the summer holidays. There are also a fair number of Norwegians that seem to be more permanent, most living in fishing villages along the fjords, or on islands only accesible by daily/twice-daily ferries or private boats. Some live in "cities",  two of which I visited in the last few weeks, Hammerfest and Alta, with populations of around 11 000 and 14 000, respectively. Each have their own very distinguishable ambience; Alta is further south (closer to 70˚N), with more greenery, forests, and a lively attitude, while Hammerfest is closer to 71˚N, a bit more industrial, and mostly above the tree line, so that one experiences the open and expansive beauty of the wild landscape (more like the mood of a desert), and the feeling of the city is much more one of people at odds with nature. 

The expansiveness reminds me of the vast desert plains of Namibia, however that is the one of the few similarities with Namibian/African fieldwork. The only other similarity being the level of alcohol consumption... but that likely has to do with geologists being alcohol-based lifeforms (Reference: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Geologist). Fieldwork in northern Norway is more variable than I've previously experienced, and is extremely dependable on the mercurial weather, where days are spent in several of the following ways; 1) travelling, by car, or ferry, because northern Norway is so big, and most of it is comprised of islands, 2) in a t-shirt, feeling warm-ish, enjoying the sunlight and working on outcrops... mostly roadcuts... because everything else is covered in lichen or moss, 2) in woolen underwear, several layers of clothing, and a waterproof layer... working on roadcuts, braving the cold wind, and watching the approaching rainclouds with a general sense of impending doom, 3) inside a hut, sheltering from the rain, looking at a map, debating what the geology is, trying to come up with tectonic models from very little actual data.

Clouds of impending doom.

This all being said, the rocks are truly amazing, and I have seen some geologically spectacular things (e.g. garnets the size of tennis balls, mylonitised migmatites, the most perfect 20 metre-scale mafic boudins ever, garnet sand, and kick-ass folds). Here are some pictures for the geologists...

Top left: Garnet sand, found on a beach. Top right: Migmatite with melt surrounding garnet porphyroblasts. Middle left: Ginormous mafic boudins. Middle right: Garnets so big you need a compass for scale. Bottom left: Fantastic folds. Bottom right: Mylonitised migmatites containg giant mafic boudins. 

I've also seen a moose, with babies, and A LOT of reindeer. Reindeer are everywhere up here... on the hills, in the fields, in peoples' gardens, and constantly in the road, obstructing traffic. They are also particularly tasty, in biltong form (tørka kjott = Sami (northern Norwegian) biltong), and in steak form. Here's a blurry picture of a moose and her babies, and a picture of a herd of reindeer:

Left: A blurry picture of a moose and her babies. Right: A herd of reindeer. 

In general fielwork in northern Norway has been an absolutely amazing experience, and I am really looking forward to spending most of the next month, alone, mapping islands, discovering fantastic new outcrops, and wandering through the wildnerness. This is where I'll spend the first week of the next month field mapping:

 Arnøya

There are definitely worse places to be!