AG-325 Glaciology (10 ECTS)

AG-325 is a systematic survey of modern research into glacial processes and the response of glaciers and ice sheets to climate change. This includes: recent changes to arctic glaciers, the principles of mass balance measurement and monitoring, glacier hydrology, glacier motion and dynamics, surges, calving, and numerical modelling. The course consists of a combination of lectures, seminars, computer-based practical classes, and excursions. Students will also have the opportunity to present talks on their own research projects. Because modern glaciology is a quantitative subject, many elements of the course will involve physics and mathematics. All material is explained from first principles, but students must be willing to engage with technical material.

Week 1: Feb 21 - 25      Mass Balance Teacher: Dr. Regine Hock, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA   Reading list

Week 2: Feb 28 - March 4       Glacier Dynamics Teacher: Prof. Doug Benn, UNIS, Norway   Reading List

Week 3: March 7 - 11       Ice sheet modelling Teachers: Dr. Nick Hulton, University of Edinburgh, UK                Dr Ian Rutt, University of Swansea, UK

Week 4: March 14 - 18 Research Frontiers Teacher: Prof. Tavi Murray University of Swansea, UK

Safety Training

Students must take a compulsory 2 day field safety training course, including polar bear protection, survival techniques, and snowmobile driving. The course will be on Feb 17-18, so students must arrive in Svalbard before these dates.

Excursions
Many types of glaciers are easily accessible from UNIS. During the course, we will try to visit a good sample of these glaciers, to let students see real-world examples of the phenomena discussed in class. Fieldwork in Svalbard in the early spring is very dependent on the weather, and sometimes excursions have to be cancelled because of heavy snow, high winds, or extreme low temperatures.

Feb 24: Scott Turnerbreen
Snowpack properties, exploring englacial conduit

March 3: Drønbreen and Tellbreen
Hydrology of polythermal glaciers

March 10: Von Postbreen
calving front of the eastern icefield, structural glaciology of surging glaciers

March 17: Paulabreen
Effects of 2003-2005 surge, calving front

Course Material
Copies of lectures and readings for the course can be found here:

W:\COURSE MTR & DATA StudentsReadOnly\AG\2008\AG-325

(internal users only)

Assessment
Course assessment will be by 4 hour exam:

09.00 - 13.00, March 23.

The exam paper will have 3 parts:

(1) Multiple-choice questions on general glaciological knowledge: 20%
(2) Four 'Short essays' (from a choice of 8): 40%
(3) One 'Long essay' (title will be announced at the start of Week 4): 40%