Evaluation of the Effects of Recharge Rate Versus Changes in the Configuration of the Subglacial Hydrological System on Glacier Hydrology

Gulley Jason D, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Jason Gulley has been awarded an NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a research and education plan at the University of Cambridge. This study will provide the first, independent assessment of a technique that is widely used to investigate the configuration of glacier hydrological systems, dye tracing; an important step in understanding the physical processes responsible for the links between glacier hydrology and glacier motion. The project includes mapping a subglacial conduit beneath the cold-based Rieper Glacier, in Svalbard, Norway (with caving techniques modified for glaciers) at the start and end of the melt season. Once the initial map is completed, a series of dye tracing experiments will be conducted through the conduits to determine how changes in the rate of recharge through the removal of the snowpack affect dye trace data. Conduit water pressure and discharge data collected from this study will be used to calibrate models of glacier hydrology which can be evaluated against directly obtained conduit data. Laboratory models will be used to investigate how changes in the configuration of subglacial hydrological systems affect water pressure and dye traces because this type of system is unlikely to be physically accessible. The laboratory study adapts models of conduit formation in limestone karst aquifers to investigate how conduit formation may affect the evolution of subglacial water pressure and influence how fast glaciers move. This project uses field investigations to provide new tools to interpret the results of dye tracing techniques and uses laboratory models to understand how meltwater inputs might increase subglacial water pressure and cause glaciers to slide faster. While this research is important for understanding links between glacier hydrology and motion, glacier caves are also visually stunning field sites that excite broad audiences. Dr. Gulley will share his research with the general public by contributing articles to international popular media outlets. In addition to publishing about ice caves, he will co-present an annual lecture on glacier cave safety and hazard recognition for the general public and cave guides in Svalbard. During fieldwork in Svalbard, Dr. Gulley will exchange emails and photographs and answer questions about the arctic with students at rural Eastern Kentucky middle schools. Lastly, he will teach an undergraduate glaciology course at the University of Cambridge.