Earth Science

Way North is a popular scientific publication from Tromsø Museum, the northernmost university museum in the world. WAY NORTH is a followup from Tromsø Museum's successful magazine Ottar, and trough it we aim to introduce the northern sea borders of Europe and the Artic to our English speaking visitors. The contents of WAY NORTH will bring readers inot the Artic; the Norwegian Sea, the Barents Sea, Jan Mayen, Svalbard and northern Norway. Trough WAY NORTH we will present the region's natural history, it's inhabitants, their heritage and their present way of life.

In this issue we present eight articles from the world of geoscience, the science of the earth. They range from the mystics of the northern lights, changes in the climate, Norway's only active volcano on Jan Mayen, and surging glaciers on Svalbard. From closer home on the mainland, you can read about the areas of northern Norway which probably were ice-free during the last ice-age, a crater-like lake formed by "explosive" snow avalanches, and inexplicably displaced slabs of peat.

All contributions to this issue of WAY NORTH were written by scientists from the University of Tromsø. The editors thank the authors for making this volume possible. We express our sincere thanks to Robert Barret for reviewing the manuscripts and for his valuable suggestions. Robert Barret, Geoffrey Corner and Ann Mari Odasz are acknowledged for translating the manuscripts. Last but not least thanks to Anne Gundersen and Hilkka Falkseth for the illustrations and Astrid Dreyer for typing the manuscripts.

Tromsø, April 1992

Jakob J. Møller.