Unit name | Cryosphere 3 |
---|---|
Unit code | GEOG35200 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Professor. Tony Payne |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
GEOG25040 Cryosphere 2 |
Co-requisites |
Other year 3 pathways |
School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
Faculty | Faculty of Science |
The unit aims to give students a full understanding of the major biogeochemical, microbiological and physical processes that prevail in ice sheets, with an emphasis on wider global impacts. The latter includes topics such as the impact of future climate change on ice sheet mass balance, alongside implications of climate warming for ice-sheet ecosystems and global biogeochemical cycles. In particular, it considers the relatively recent idea that ice sheets and the cryosphere more generally can be considered as a “biome”. The element covers theoretical and observational work, on glacier hydrology, ice dynamics, hydrochemistry, microbiology and biogeochemistry. biogeochemistry/microbiology and the physical glaciology topics comprise different, but complementary, elements of the unit. Field measurement, numerical modelling and laboratory studies are a major theme of the unit.
Structure and content (including sub-elements)
Element 1: Ice Sheets and global biogeochemical cycles (8 lectures, 3 hrs practical)
2 hr practical for this element looking at molecular datasets/bioinformatics
Element 2: Ice Sheet hydrology and dynamics (10 lectures)
On completion of this Unit students should be able to:
The following transferable skills are developed in this Unit:
Lectures & practical sessions
Final Exam 67% Project Report 33%
Anesio, A. M., B. Sattler, C. Foreman, J. Telling, A. Hodson, M. Tranter, and R. Psenner (2010), Carbon fluxes through bacterial communities on glacier surfaces, Ann Glaciol, 51(56), 32-40.
Price, S. F., A. J. Payne, I. M. Howat, and B. E. Smith (2011), Committed sea-level rise for the next century from Greenland ice sheet dynamics during the past decade, P Natl Acad Sci USA, 108(22), 8978-8983.
Siegert, M. J., M. Tranter, J. C. Ellis-Evans, J. C. Priscu, and W. B. Lyons (2003), The hydrochemistry of Lake Vostok and the potential for life in Antarctic subglacial lakes, Hydrol Process, 17(4), 795-814.
Wadham, J. L., M. Tranter, M. Skidmore, A. J. Hodson, J. Priscu, W. B. Lyons, M. Sharp, P. Wynn, and M. Jackson (2010), Biogeochemical weathering under ice: Size matters, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 24(3), GB3025.
Wadham, J. L., M. Tranter, S. Tulaczyk, and M. Sharp (2008), Subglacial methanogenesis: A potential climatic amplifier?, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 22(2), GB2021.
Pritchard, H. D., R. J. Arthern, D. G. Vaughan, and L. A. Edwards (2009), Extensive dynamic thinning on the margins of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, Nature, 461(7266), 971-975.
Pritchard, H. D., R. J. Arthern, D. G. Vaughan, and L. A. Edwards (2009), Extensive dynamic thinning on the margins of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, Nature, 461(7266), 971-975.