Perennial snowfield research helps archaeological surveys

October 13, 2015

A University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student’s research on perennial snow cover may someday help discover archaeological artifacts in Arctic Alaska.

Photo by Chris Ciancibelli/National Park Service. Molly Tedesche uses a depth probe to measure the depth of the softer top layers of snow and an ice auger to measure the depth of the harder layers of the snow, firn and ice.

Molly Tedesche, specializing in snow hydrology at the UAF International Arctic Research Center, worked in the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in the Brooks Range over the summer. She studied the location and complex, multi-layered structure of perennial snow patches in the Arctic alpine.

Items of archaeological and paleoecological interest, dated as thousands of years old, have recently been found in melting perennial snow in other parts of Alaska and Canada. Fragments of artifacts, clothing made from animal skins and soft tissues, and caribou dung were embedded in the older layers of snow patches in these regions.

Melting snow due to warming temperatures can put preservation of the organic parts of artifacts at risk of quick degradation. Archaeologists at Gates of the Arctic are wondering if there may be artifacts frozen in the Brooks Range snow patches as well.

Photo by Chris Ciancibelli/National Park Service. Molly Tedesche uses a test pit to determine physical structure and layering of snow crystals and ice lenses in a snow patch.

Tedesche’s work may help archaeologists determine which snow patches with archaeological potential will melt out first and should be investigated quickly.

Tedesche also hopes to apply other techniques, such as ground-penetrating radar, to produce a robust model that more accurately predicts snow-patch longevity.

The work was part of her project as a George Melendez Wright Young Leaders in Climate Change Fellow for the National Park Service’s Climate Change Response Program.

ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Molly Tedesche, 907-474-1875, metedesche@alaska.edu

Listen to a radio interview with Tedesche on KUAC (at 2:27 minutes into the broadcast).