2024-2025
Sediment plays a key role in the advance and retreat of tidewater glaciers. Moraines constructed at the base of the glacier buffer the ice face from the melting effects of relatively warm seawater, and also provide a point of stability for the terminus.
Emily A. and Emily E. are collaborating with large team of researchers led by Dr. Ginny Catania at UT Austin to study the marine geology and physical oceanography of several tidewater glaciers in southwest Greenland. Full project details are available at the TERMINUS website.
In August 2024, the research team spent three weeks in western Greenland collecting sediment cores, mapping bathymetry, and studying sediment processes. Most time was spent in the Kangerlussup Sermia fjord system, a dynamic tidewater glacier that was chosen for its high sedimentation rates and slow rate of retreat. Ice conditions in the surrounding fjords limited navigation abilities to approach the termini of other glaciers of interest, so research priorities shifted to mapping the Kangerlussup glacial face thoroughly and repeatedly. Emily A. managed the LISST-200x particle sizer and RBR Tu turbidity sensor which were mounted on NUI and deployed on 6 dives, allowing for data collection in and around the sediment plume and terminus face. Niskin bottle samples were filtered for suspended sediment to identify downfjord grain size progression and plume transport. The water column sediment data will help inform parametrization of ice-sheet modeling led by the UT Ice Dynamics lab.
August 2024 Field photos from the TERMINUS team:
This project is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Keck Foundation.
