Climate reconstructions from glacier length records

Project description
Exposure dated marginal moraines and sediment analysis of distal glacier-fed lakes help us reconstruct past glacier fluctuations spanning several millennia e.g., Bakke et al. (2021). Given that the extent of a glacier is closely related to its surface mass balance (SMB), these reconstructions may also be used to reconstruct past climates. However, this usually requires a direct relationship between glacier length and a single dominant climate variable such as summer temperature or winter precipitation, which cannot always be assumed. To assess the impact of more complex climate changes on glacier extent, we need to use numerical models. In this project, we will use glacier and SMB models to quantify the sensitivity of glacier extent to various changes in climate. This includes a variation of the model that students are instructed to build themselves in GEOV325 - Glaciology as well as the sophisticated SMB model BESSI (Born et al., 2019). In collaboration with several researchers at our department, we plan to apply the results of this sensitivity study to field data from the remote sub-Antarctic island Kerguelen (49°S) where local glaciers are highly sensitive to changes in globally relevant atmospheric circulation systems (Favier et al., 2016).

Proposed course plan during the master's degree (60 ECTS):
GEOV230 – Glacial geology and geomorphology
GEOV325 - Glaciology
GEOV324 - Polar Palaeoclimate
GEOV222 - Palaeoclimatology

Prerequisites
Interest in numerical modeling. Experience in python or similar is useful but not required. Please contact the supervisors before choosing this project.

Felt- lab- og analysearbeid
This project does not require field or lab work.