Surging glaciers, Svalbard
Surging glaciers undergo cyclical changes in fast and slow flow. These dynamics are typically thought to departures from ;standard’ glacier flow and thus offers a unique natural laboratory to understand the process of glacier flow. Using a range in situ and remote sensing measurements, we seek to better understand the drivers of surging glaciers. We are currently investigating the activation of a surge at Borebreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard that has not surged since ~100 years ago. We are combining seismic arrays with close-range measurements from laser scanners, time-lapse cameras and drones to quantify the surge dynamics and its impact on calving. We are supplementing this with high resolution Planet imagery to assess how these dynamics evolve over a seasonal cycle. Future work will seek to repeat these measurements and assess long-term surge dynamics.
Funding: SAGES, AFG,
In collaboration with the University of Aberdeen, Polish Academy of Sciences, NTNU, University of Oslo, University of St. Andrews, Lund University and the University of Portsmouth
Greenland Ice Sheet:
Reconstructing tidewater glacier behaviour
This project reconstructs the geometric changes of Kangiata Nunata Sermia (KNS), the most dynamic tidewater glacier in SW Greenland, over the last millennium using a multi-proxy approach. The site has a unique combination of glacial sedimentological, geomorphological and archaeological evidence, combined with OSL and 14C dating, enables the growth and advance of this glacier to be determined following the Medieval Warm Period and how this may have affected remote Norse communities. This project also aims to use KNS as a test site for numerical models of tidewater calving criteria and their long-term sensitivity to climate change.
Photo credit: James Lea
Funding: The Leverhulme Trust, collaboration with the Universities of Liverpool Glasgow and Aberdeen.
Greenland Project short film: Credit: Alex Ingle
Glaciation in NW Arctic Russia
This research investigates the glacial and deglacial dynamics of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet around the Kola Peninsula in NW Russia. Little is known about this region, due to its remote nature, which hinders our understanding of past ice-sheet behaviour in this area.
This work will be undertaken by Ben Boyes, a PhD student at the University of Brighton and in collaboration with Prof. Vasili Kolka at the Kola Science Centre. Outputs from this work will provide important empirical constraints for numerical models.
Funding: EU-INTERACT, University of Brighton PhD scholarship
We aim to provide the first chronological constraint on the Kapisillit moraines, using Cosmogenic Nuclide Analysis (Beryllium-10) from in situ boulders. This will improve our understanding of deglaciation dynamics following the LGM.
Funding: SAGES, collaboration with Liverpool, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
Dating the 'Kapisillit moraines’ in south-west Greenland
Plateau icefield dynamics, Norway
This area of research is led by Dr Clare Boston, University of Portsmouth, and focuses on examining the effect of changes in plateau icefield mass balance on ice margin retreat patterns and depositional processes at Hardangerjøkulen, Norway. The aim is to examine how changes in plateau icefield mass balance and ELA are reflected in changes in the position of the ice margin and associated ice-marginal depositional processes, within outlet valleys of different morphologies.
Funding: EU INTERACT
