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We arrived successfully on Monday night in Brazzaville. The arrival in itself was no small feat given the 187 lbs of equipment we toted, packed into 4 massive waterproof bags (and 20-30 lbs each in our carry-on packs).
All of our sampling finally behind us, our expedition draws to a close. Yesterday was in some ways the simplest day, and in others the most ambitious.
An important aspect of the Global Rivers Project is acquiring a time series. For weekly samples from the Fraser Basin, we are indebted to our colleagues at the University of Fraser Valley — Steven Marsh, Sharon Gillies, Alida Janmaat, and seven of their brightest undergraduate students.
The follow-up to yesterday’s exciting tale of organic chemicals features our inorganic measurements!
We decided the time has come to describe some of the other samples we’re collecting and what they add to the global rivers project.
Today we sampled the Chilcotin River, a tributary flowing through the dry belt between the Coast Range and Cariboo/Rocky Mountains. This truly unique corner of B.C. features bunchgrass, bighorn sheep, and stunning sedimentary hoodoos.
Each evening we transform a hotel room into a laboratory.
Halfway through the journey through the Rocky Mountain Trench, our surroundings quickly changed from rugged foothills to rolling plains.
After taking advantage of the last remnants of daylight yesterday to collect water from the Robson River for filtration back in Valemount, today the sampling began in earnest.
The 13 boxes of shipped equipment arrived at the University of the Fraser Valley only hours before us. To fit everything into our rental car, we had to jettison a few items (including the 3rd row of seats and a personal piece of luggage).