Tarfala Research Station, Sweden.
Tarfala Research Station, Sweden.
Photo by Flora Mary Bartlett.
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Bartlett, Flora Mary. “Portrait of an Arctic Research Station.” Springs: The Rachel Carson Center Review, no. 8 (November 2025). http://doi.org/10.5282/rcc-springs-17842.
Tarfala Research Station is nestled in the Tarfala Valley in the Arctic north of Sweden. It is accessed by helicopter or on foot. The hike is challenging, dominated by the moraine landscape left behind following glacial retreat, where rock and debris of all sizes scatter down the steep valley walls. The station began as a site for the study of glacial mass and quickly became a place for polar-expedition training. It was officially opened as a research station run by Stockholm University in 1961, focussing on glaciology and geomorphology, and today consists of a mess hall and kitchen, lab and lecture hall, workshop, sleeping quarters, staff quarters, and a sauna. In summertime, when temperatures are comparably mild, Tarfala Research Station is occupied by staff, visiting researchers, and guests, and sometimes hosts university visits with lectures and trips to the glacier. I am one such visitor, in the autumn of 2020, staying at the station for a 10-day pilot study concerning landscapes, science, and photography. (From the article)
This article was originally published in Springs: The Rachel Carson Center Review. Springs is an online publication featuring peer-reviewed articles, creative nonfiction, and artistic contributions that showcase the work of the Rachel Carson Center and its community across the world.
2025 Flora Mary Bartlett
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