Research projects - Glaciology and Quaternary Science cluster

The list below may also include a small number of archived projects. In due course, these will be listed separately.

Glaciology and Climate Change

Assessing the role of subglacial hydrology on the flow of West Antarctic ice streams: a numerical modelling approach: A summary of this project will be online shortly.
Changing Thermal Regime of Polythermal Glaciers: Over the past few decades, many Arctic glaciers have been shrinking in response to climate change and are predicted to shrink further over the next few decades. Many Arctic glaciers are polythermal, with warm ice (at 0 deg C) in their interior where ice is thick and is warmed to the pressure melt point, and cold ice (below 0 deg C) around their margins where ice is thin. Previous work on the polythermal glacier Midre Lovénbreen, close to the Arctic research base, Ny-Ålesund on Spitsbergen has shown that the thermal regime of this glacier, particularly the location of warm-based and cold-based ice, has important implications for the glacier’s hydrology and dynamics. We hypothesized that as glaciers shrink, their thermal regime will change, and that this will affect the way in which water moves through them and control their movement. Results show that while the glacier snout has retreated about 13m per year and surface mass balance has been -0.4m of water equivalent per year since 1990, the boundary between the warm- and cold-based ice has retreated by around 80m per year over the same period.
CryoSat-2: The Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge University is part of an international team of scientists coordinated by the European Space Agency, the Cryosat Calibration, Validation and Retrieval Team (CVRT). Since 2004 SPRI scientists have participated in field campaigns in Greenland and Svalbard, collecting data on the spatial variation of snow density and densification processes.
Evaluating the potential of high-resolution airborne remote sensing for glaciology: One of the fundamental requirements for the creation of accurate models of glacier mass-balance is the provision of accurate topographic data in the form of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). Such data have typically been derived from either traditional topographic maps, or more recently, from spaceborne altimetry data. These data sources, however, typically have a low spatial resolution; where high resolution data are required, they are derived by interpolation of the low resolution data, and hence produce inherently 'smooth' DEMs. In recent years, however, the performance of airborne, high resolution altimeters has improved markedly. In this project we investigate the potential of a high resolution LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) system both as a tool for the creation of accurate, high resolution DEMs, but also to evaluate the potential of such data in other areas of glaciology such as measurement of glacier velocity through feature tracking.
Extreme Experiments: A comprehensive plan to validate Cryosat in the Arctic and Antarctic: SPRI scientists are working as part of a team of scientists to validate data from the European Space Agency Cryosat project. CryoSat is a radar altimetry mission that aims to collect information about variations in thickness of polar ice sheets and sea ice to support research into climate change.
Geometry and Mass Balance Changes of Langjökull, Iceland: Currently, about 11% (11 200km2) of Iceland is covered by ice; most contained within extensive plateau ice caps ranging in size from Hofsjökull i Loni (8km2) to Vatnajökull (8175km2). The maritime climate means these ice caps receive up to ~4 m w.e. a-1 of snowfall in their accumulation zones and lose up to ~10m w.e. a-1 of ice in their ablation areas. This, together with the fact they are temperate, means they are dynamically responsive to small climatically induced mass balance changes.
Glacial Sedimentary Processes in Iceland: We have recently completed a study employing macro- and micro-sedimentological techniques on sediments exposed on recently deglaciated fore-fields at nine surging and non-surging glaciers in Iceland.
High-resolution distributed modelling of the surface energy balance of valley glaciers: A summary of this project will be online shortly.
Hydrological controls on the formation of basal ice layers beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet: In the austral summer 2000-2001, a borehole camera system developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was used to image the ice compositions in West Antarctica. This resulted in the identification of a 15-m-thick layer of accreted basal ice in Kamb Ice Stream.
Identification of Subglacial Paleolakes in Arctic Canada: geophysical surveys in the Great Slave Lake: The aim of this project is to identify and examine paleo-subglacial lake environments that serve as analogues to subglacial lakes buried beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Our project focuses on Christie Bay in the NE arm of Canada’s Great Slave Lake, which is the deepest lake in North America (~640 m) and 6th deepest lake worldwide. The deep trough in Christie Bay is a fascinating geomorphological feature in the topographically subtle Canadian Shield. It is probably an erosional result of the advance and retreat of Quaternary ice sheets over a fault system that originates with the amalgamation of the North American continent 2 Ga BP.
INTEGRAL: The general goal of INTEGRAL is to promote an advanced observation technology based on the complementary use of satellite interferometry and altimetry for generating and upgrading models of the elevation and evolution of the largest European tidewater glaciers (TWGs), and to integrate estimations of glacier changes at the regional scale.
Investigating basal conditions and flow dynamics on Vestfonna Ice Cap, Svalbard: Arctic ice caps are an important component of global change, especially as Arctic temperatures are increasing at almost twice the global average. This project focuses on Vestfonna Ice Cap, located in northeast Svalbard. This Arctic ice cap is of particular interest because its northern ice margin terminates on land while the southern margin contains a series of tidewater outlet glaciers, comparable to those draining the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Modelling and observing subglacial processes beneath Antarctic ice streams: Ice sheets are drained by fast flowing glaciers that discharge large quantities of ice into polar oceans. Changes in the motion of fast flowing glaciers, such as ice streams and major outlet glaciers, can therefore affect the mass balance of ice sheets. Glaciological research has shown that the flow of ice streams is controlled by material properties of weak subglacial sediment. Many glaciers, particularly the fast flowing ones, overrides a thin layer of glacially eroded sediment called till. The soil mechanical behaviour of subglacial till is therefore a key glaciological issue.
Modelling Mass Balance of Svalbard Glaciers: The Arctic climate is currently warming at a faster rate than observed elsewhere on Earth and future projections suggest this trend will continue into the 21st century. With glaciers and ice caps covering ~36 600 km2, Svalbard is one of the largest glaciated areas in the Arctic. Future climate change will significantly alter the mass balance of glaciers and ice caps across the archipelago with important consequences for sea level. We are currently developing a numerical mass balance model, which will ultimately be used to calculate the spatial and temporal variations in mass balance of the archipelago’s ice masses.
Modelling the influence of glacier hydrology on the dynamics of large ice sheets: Glacier hydrology, that is the systems which carry water within and at the bed of ice sheets and glaciers, are one of the fundamental controls on the velocity of ice masses, and hence their possible responses to climate change. The flow rates of valley glaciers are known to be influenced by the changes in the amount of water in their hydrological systems which occur over the course of a year due to the changing seasons, and there is increasing evidence that the Greenland Ice Sheet in particular may experience annual velocity variations in response to increased summer melting. Geomorphological evidence from areas occupied by ice sheets during the last glacial period also suggests that the great Quaternary ice sheets carried substantial amounts of water at their beds, and that this basal water affected their flow rates. Fast glacier flow, which occurs in modern-day ice streams and some of the large outlet glaciers which drain both the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets seems in particular to depend on the presence of basal water at high pressure. This project aims to incorporate a physically-based numerical model of subglacial hydrology into a state-of-the-art thermomechanical ice sheet model.
Spaceborne measurements of Arctic glaciers and implications for sea-level change: SPICE was a 3-year research project whose main objective was to develop a scheme in which satellite data of varying nature can be combined to give detailed information on the mass budget of ice caps.
Supraglacial, Englacial and Subglacial Hydrology of Glaciers and Ice Sheets: This work is concerned with modelling the water movement through: i) supraglacial snowpacks (unsaturated / saturated; isothermal / non-isothermal) and across ice surfaces; ii) englacial pipes and channels; and iii) subglacial distributed and channelised drainage systems.
The Greenland Ice Sheet: How fast is it changing, and why?: The Greenland Ice Sheet (Fig. 1) covers 80% of the Greenland land surface area of 2.2 million km2. The volume of ice in the ice sheet is 2.9 million km3. The geographical position of the ice sheet ranges from 59° to 83° north and from 73° to 110° west. Each year, snow accumulation provides the equivalent of 680 cubic kilometers of ice and if the ice sheet was in a steady state it would lose the same amount by surface melting and iceberg discharge. The Greenland Ice Sheet is thought to have formed approximately 3 million years ago when glaciations in the northern hemisphere became extensive. The cause of Northern hemisphere glaciations is not fully established. It is possible that tectonic processes such as the uplift of Tibet and closure of the Panama Sea Way caused global cooling, but it has been suggested that a decline in atmospheric carbon dioxide could have triggered the most recent era of glaciation in Greenland.
Thermodynamics of basal freeze-on beneath glaciers and ice sheet: Quantitative models of basal freeze-on and its effects on basal ice and subglacial sediments are needed because of the important role that basal freeze- on plays in controlling spatial and temporal patterns of fast ice flow in polar ice sheets.
Understanding contemporary changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet: The aim of this project is to develop a numerical ice-flow model for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and its ice streams. The model will feature accurate predictive ability for simulation of the 21st century when coupled to an Earth-system model. We will use the model to develop a better understanding of the contemporary changes in the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) observed over the last c. 20 years. The study will make use of a wide range of observations including satellite remote imaging, airborne surveys and ground-based field campaigns.

Glacimarine Environments Group

Geophysical and Geological Investigations of Sedimentation and Ice-Ocean Variability on Arctic Continental Margins: This project investigates the development of the continental margins of the Polar North Atlantic during the Late Quaternary. This development is related strongly to the growth and decay of ice sheets on Greenland and Eurasia. The glacial and palaeoceanographic conditions in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea are, in turn, linked to Quaternary climate change. Variations in ice-ocean-climate have produced a distinctive geological record, which includes huge submarine fans, mega-slides, channel systems, and deep-ocean sediments, which contain a chronology for the episodic development of the margin, and for past oceanographic and ice-sheet dynamics.
Glacial-interglacial changes in the lost drainage basin of the West Antarctic: A summary of this project will be online shortly.
Ice-Rafted Debris on the Antarctic Continental Margin and the Dynamics of the Antarctic Ice Sheet: The aim of this project is to reconstruct the behaviour of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) throughout the Quaternary, with particular reference to the last glacial maximum (LGM). Considerable debate exists as to the extent of the APIS at the LGM, with reconstructions ranging from a grounded ice sheet that reached the continental shelf edge to a more restricted ice sheet that extended only to the mid-shelf. Furthermore, little is known about the subsequent retreat history of the APIS and whether this was catastrophic or slow.
Marine geological processes and sediments beneath floating ice shelves in Greenland and Antarctica: investigations using the Autosub AUV: The aim of this project was to investigate the marine geological processes and sediments beneath ice shelves and tidewater glacier margins in Greenland and Antarctica using a variety of geophysical equipment deployed from the Autosub Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and the RRS James Clark Ross.

Polar Landscape & Remote Sensing Group

Air pollution and ground disturbance in the Russian Arctic: The Polar Landscapes and Remote Sensing Group is engaged in a long-term programme of research into the potential for satellite and airborne remote sensing to study the phenomena of Arctic surface and airborne pollution effects, in collaboration with the Geography Faculty of Moscow State University.
BALANCE: Global Change Vulnerabilities in the Barents Region: Linking Arctic Natural Resources, Climate Change and Economies.: The major goal of this international, EU-funded project is to assess the vulnerabilities of the Barents Sea Region to climate change based on a common modelling framework for major environmental and societal components as well as on the quantification of linkages between these components through an integrated assessment model.
Development of a phenological correction algorithm for remote sensing of industrial impact on high-latitude vegetation. Case study: Noril'sk, Northern Siberia: The aim of this project was to correct maps of vegetation dynamics using a model of phenological changes based on images of low spatial and high temporal resolution.
Environmental Risk Assessment in the Arctic: This project considers issues associated with the management of environmental risk in the Alaskan Arctic. The focus of the research is the decision whether to support an oil production pad in the terrestrial Arctic by the construction of a gravel road, or to support it by other forms of communication. The study examines the problem from the risk perspectives of all of the stakeholder groups involved in the decision process, each of which has a contrasting perception of the environmental risks involved.
Geometry and scale-dependence of an Arctic glacier: Glaciers and ice caps outside the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets comprise approximately 4% of the area and around 0.5% of the volume of land ice. If they were to melt completely, they would raise global sea levels by approximately 0.5 m. It is particularly important to develop detailed and accurate characterisations of the surface geometry of glaciers over a wide range of spatial scales. This presents a considerable technical challenge. Recently, changes in surface elevation of glaciers have begun to be made by comparing digital elevation models (DEMs) compiled at different times. Suitable DEMs can be constructed from a number of types of data, including GPS survey, stereophotography, radar interferometry, spaceborne radar altimetry and laser profiling or LiDAR. In particular, recent technological improvements in airborne LiDAR technology have substantially enhanced the available precision, horizontal resolution and data rate. We have been working with airborne LiDAR data from the glacier Midre Lovénbreen on Svalbard since 2003, supported by detailed field data, to develop these ideas.
Northern Hemisphere snow cover: The environmental importance of high-latitude snow cover is well established. As well as its role in albedo feedback it is an indicator of the global climate, though a complex one since a warming climate can have both positive effect through increased precipitation and a negative effect through increased melting. It also has a major impact on terrestrial vegetation through thermal insulation, modification of hydrological fluxes and limiting the availability of photosynthetically active radiation. This in turn provides a link to the global carbon cycle. This is a complex set of interactions, which dictates a need for long-term monitoring of snow cover in conjunction with other climatological variables. The aim of this project is to analyse estimates of northern hemisphere snowcover data from around 1970 to the present day to identify key trends and to relate them to other climatological variables.
Peasant Response to Development and Reform in Iceland 1700-1870: The project takes its leave in the attempts of the Danish and Icelandic authorities to reform and alter the way of living of ordinary people in Iceland 1700-1870.
The Tundra-taiga interface: The interface between the boreal forest and the arctic tundra is the Earth's greatest vegetation transition. It is over 13,000 km long, occupies around 5% of the vegetated surface of the Northern Hemisphere and represents major gradients in key climatological parameters such as carbon flux, water flux and albedo. The position of this interface region, and the species composition of the northern boreal forest, have undergone major shifts since the last glacial maximum. Modelling predicts northward shifts in boreal vegetation distributions in response to global warming, with roughly half to two thirds of the present tundra being displaced by forest by the end of the 21st century. Such changes would have major climatological implications through the probable increase in CO2 absorption and decrease in CH4 emission, decrease in regional albedo and alteration of the hydrological cycle. The processes that determine the northern limit of trees are, however, complex and not fully understood. Systematic monitoring data are scarce, and provide scant evidence for the northward shift predicted by models.
Vulnerability of European reindeer husbandry to global change: The management of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) is practiced widely throughout, and beyond, the Eurasian north. Within the European north it represents the major land use of the tundra regions, and also extends southwards into the boreal forest. A number of studies have already suggested that reindeer husbandry has at least the potential to be adversely affected by climate change. The aim of this work is to consider the likely response of the practice of reindeer husbandry to climate change and to changes in the socioeconomic and political setting.

Quaternary Palaeoenvironments Group

Drainage development, thermokarst activity and periglacial landscape change in Southern England: Thermokarst landforms have been widely recognised in southern England, and particularly Fenland by workers such as Rodney Burton & Richard West. These landforms are represented by near-circular depressions and larger flat-bottomed embayments cut into Jurassic or Cretaceous clay or silt-rich bedrock, and surrounded by low, rounded hills. It appears that these features were formed during the Devensian (the last cold stage), or in some cases earlier cold stages, by the same processes which operate in arctic thaw lakes today. Their formation has been independent of past fluvial processes which have formed separate terrace aggradations. This research theme centres on the investigation of thermokarst processes, the mode of formation of thermokarst landforms, their geological setting and role in landscape change.
Palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic evolution of the Baltic Sea basin during the Last Interglacial (Eemian, Mikulino): A summary of this project will be online shortly.
Preliminary observations on the stratigraphy of the Son river sediments: the YTT, seasonality and post-eruptive river response: During the 2009 field season several sites in the Son river valley were examined to investigate the stratigraphy of the underlying sediments. In particular, attention was directed at establishing the relationship, occurrence and lateral variability of the Young Toba Tuff (YTT, dated at 74 ± 2 ka BP). The aim of these investigations was to determine the impact of the ash fall on the river system sedimentation and the general environmental setting.
The Pleistocene Stratigraphy and Palaeoenvironments of the Cambridge District: This study attempts to record and interpret Pleistocene geological data from the Cambridge District in a comprehensive format. The chief aim of the project was to describe, record and interpret Pleistocene stratigraphic, geological and palaeontological evidence from the Cambridge District to enable the reconstruction of past vegetation, climates, environments and landscapes. It is hoped that this work will lead to the creation of detailed geological maps of the Cambridge District, and a greater understanding of the chrono-stratigraphic position of the various Pleistocene deposits in the area, allowing correlation with British and European sequences.

NERC Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling

Inland thinning of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica: The Pine Island Glacier (PIG) transports 69 cubic kilometers of ice each year from ~10% of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). It is possible that a retreat of the PIG may accelerate ice discharge from the WAIS interior. Satellite altimetry and interferometry show that the grounded PIG thinned by up to 1.6 meters per year between 1992 and 1999, affecting 150 kilometers of the inland glacier. The thinning cannot be explained by short-term variability in accumulation and must result from glacier dynamics.
Larsen Ice Shelf has Progressively Thinned: The retreat and collapse of Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves in tandem with a regional atmospheric warming has fueled speculation as to how these events may be related. Satellite radar altimeter measurements show that between 1992 and 2001 the Larsen Ice Shelf lowered by up to 0.27 ± 0.11 meters per year. The lowering is explained by increased summer melt-water and the loss of basal ice through melting. Enhanced ocean-driven melting may provide a simple link between regional climate warming and the successive disintegration of sections of the Larsen Ice Shelf.