Reconstruction of sedimentary environments and glacier dynamics in Van Mijenfjorden, western Spitsbergen
This Master's project was designed for Amalie krogholm Arildslund who started her Master's program in Earth Sciences, UiB, in the fall semester 2023. The Master's project is given by the research group Quaternary geology & paleo climate.
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Project description
The general course of deglaciation of the western Svalbard margin after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is relatively well established. However, retreat of individual glaciers from different fjord systems reveals large variations and is often punctuated with surge- or climate-induced advances of glacier margins (Flink et al., 2015; Flink & Noormets 2018; Farnsworth et al., 2018; 2020).
This project will study the past sedimentary conditions based on a 282 cm long gravity core retrieved from the inner van Mijenfjorden, western Spitsbergen. Using various sedimentological, palaeontological, geophysical and geotechnical methods, the changes in the sediment core will be documented and interpreted in terms of the variations in the sedimentary environments, processes and palaeoceanographic conditions. These results will be used in combination with the literature studies to shed light on the glacier dynamics and the character of
deglaciation in the van Mijenfjorden fjord system.
Lab work - analysis of a sediment core
The investigation methods include:
1. Lithological logging
2. XRF
3. Magnetic susceptibility
4. Shear strength
5. Granulometry
6. Water content
7. Total Organic Carbon (by loss on ignition)
8. Microfossil count and assemblages in >0.1 mm fraction
9. Radiocarbon dating of organic matter
10. Ice Rafted Debris analysis.
Processing and analysis of acoustic data from Van Mijenfjorden
Proposed course plan during the master's degree (60 ECTS):
1. semester: GEOV324 (5), GEOV336 (10), GEOV230 (10)
2. semester: GEOV228 (10), GEOV231 (10), GEOV322 (5)
3. semester: AG-326 (10)