the summer is here! i don't think anyone on this list is graduating
this may, but if i'm wrong, congrats. some exciting opportunities
revealed themselves to me in the past few weeks and as a result, i will
be in mccarthy, alaska for the duration of this summer. upon
completing my spanish credits this may (3 hrs/day for 3 weeks and no
more spanish class ever!) i will be hopping on a plane to a remote
corner of southeast alaska. as of now i don't know what sorts of
amenities will be available up there, but i think electricity is a new
addition thanks to solar power. no running water, maybe a phone, and i
don't think there's internet. better soak up all the FOGS goodness in
the next few weeks! i might not be able to write emails for a while.
so, why would i be excited to go spend 3 months at northern latitudes
in almost constant sunlight and live on a 40 km long, 2.5 km wide
moving slab of ice called the kennicott glacier? cause it's cool!
(geography jokes, ruthie i hope at least you got a giggle) the
glacier begins at mt. blackburn (>16000 ft, 5th highest in n. america i
think) and crashes down valley to a stunning 1400 ft. yes, that is
over 14600 ft in vertical descent.
as you may or may not be aware, i am writing an honors thesis next
year. i had asked my advisor if there were any research trips i could
be involved with so as to have personal field experience and data
collection in my thesis. oh yeah, my tentative thesis title: "polar
indicators of climate change, global repercussions, and prosperous
opportunities for change." so, a few days later suzanne (my advisor)
writes me saying that she has enough money within on of her grants this
summer for me to come along free of cost. no paychecks but beautiful
scenery and great experiences. so i got my travel authorization a few
days ago: june 3rd - august 21st. i'll be living up there with a grad
student for the entire summer while suzanne and her husband bob (a very
skilled geologist and another one of my professors) come up
periodically throughout the summer months to check up on us. bob and
suzanne are even bringing their two 6-yr-old girls up for 2 weeks in
june.
so, the story behind the research:
the kennicott glacier is sized and classified with the most erosive
temperate glaciers. it's shear size is believed to be the driving
force behind its 150m/yr down-valley travels. hidden creek lake, a
glacially-dammed lake about 15 km up the glacier on the west side of
the ice fills with melt-water every spring. once a year, usually in
june, this lake (which reaches an area of approx. 1 sq. km, a depth of
up to 100m and experiences iceberg calving events similar to tidewater
glaciers) breaks through the ice dam and pours through the sub-glacial
conduit system, flooding the chitna river for 2-3 days. the glacial
sewer system is never developed enough at this time in the year to
facilitate the smooth outflux of 30 million cu. meters of water, so the
system backs up like clogged pipes, flooding 2-3 up-valley lakes. our
research goal is to gain a better understanding of the dynamics and
hydraulics at work in these large temperate glaciers and calculate the
mass balance and erosive power of the glacier. our hypothesis: that
sliding anomalies occur in association with synoptic variations in melt
inputs. also, that long, thick glaciers like kennicott will experience
more total sliding than thin glaciers, as well as multiple sliding
events within a single season. finally, short-lived sliding events are
expected with the outburst flood of hidden creek lake.
what we'll actually be doing:
we'll be installing a comprehensive monitoring system for continuous
measurement of lake depths, glacial surface temp, pressure at the bed,
ice thickness (believed to be ~400m), the growth patterns of the
sub-glacial conduit system, and glacial sliding events. this will be
achieved through using water level loggers in affected lakes and a
moulin, fancy thermometers on the glacial surface as well as up the
banks of the lakes, and gps units will be staggered up the glacier in a
direct line up-valley. sediment catchments and water level loggers
will also be hung off a pedestrian footbridge over the kennicott river
(a glacially fed, sediment laden river that feeds into the chitna,
leading to the copper and then to the ocean). once i arrive at the
glacier in june, tim (the grad student i will be getting to know very
well over the summer months) and i will be trekking up the glacier 2
days to reach hidden creek lake, spending 10-14 days up on the ice and
then hiking back down to reload on gear and supplies. then we'll turn
around and do it again, though the second leg will be a little
different. tim is running his own experimentation on one of the
tributary glaciers feeding into the kennicott, the gates glacier.
structurally, the geology in this region is peculiar, as weaker
sedimentaries lie downslope from the more stubborn igneous formations
of the wrangell range. subjected to glacial erosion, these valleys
have eroded making way for massive ice falls. these icefalls produce
"ogives" or big waves on the glacier. his thesis is geared towards
putting a mathematical equation to what we see as a wavy glacier.
i could keep talking but i think i just realized that most of what i'm
saying might sound like chinese to some of you. please feel free to
write me back with any questions about this stuff, i'd be happy to keep
on going. if you'd like to see the glacier, the coordinates are 61 29'
31" N, 142 56' 44" W
check it out on google earth or nasa's worldwind (both programs are
free, but nasa's only works on pc's) i attached a picture so you can
have an idea of where i'll be.
also, the month of july is fairly empty for me. though i'll be 60
miles form the nearest paved road, if anyone is going to be in AK this
summer, let me know! i might be able to escape the ice! oh yeah,
anyone know somebody in alaska with a mtn bike? supposedly there's
some great riding up in the wrangell range.
on a COMPLETELY different note:
check out driveneutral.com
by purchasing carbon credits from the chicago climate exchange (CCX)
not only will you support cap-and-trading business practices of
emissions controls, but you will be offsetting your car's emission
through carbon sequestration (recapturing of CO2 from the atmosphere
through a wide variety of methods, which i would be happy to talk more
about if anyone's interested). support environmental business
practices, renewable energies, and help the earth. at least check it
out.
love to you all
-jimmy
so, the story behind the research:
the kennicott glacier is sized and classified with the most erosive
temperate glaciers. it's shear size is believed to be the driving
force behind its 150m/yr down-valley travels. hidden creek lake, a
glacially-dammed lake about 15 km up the glacier on the west side of
the ice fills with melt-water every spring. once a year, usually in
june, this lake (which reaches an area of approx. 1 sq. km, a depth of
up to 100m and experiences iceberg calving events similar to tidewater
glaciers) breaks through the ice dam and pours through the sub-glacial
conduit system, flooding the chitna river for 2-3 days. the glacial
sewer system is never developed enough at this time in the year to
facilitate the smooth outflux of 30 million cu. meters of water, so the
system backs up like clogged pipes, flooding 2-3 up-valley lakes. our
research goal is to gain a better understanding of the dynamics and
hydraulics at work in these large temperate glaciers and calculate the
mass balance and erosive power of the glacier. our hypothesis: that
sliding anomalies occur in association with synoptic variations in melt
inputs. also, that long, thick glaciers like kennicott will experience
more total sliding than thin glaciers, as well as multiple sliding
events within a single season. finally, short-lived sliding events are
expected with the outburst flood of hidden creek lake.
what we'll actually be doing:
we'll be installing a comprehensive monitoring system for continuous
measurement of lake depths, glacial surface temp, pressure at the bed,
ice thickness (believed to be ~400m), the growth patterns of the
sub-glacial conduit system, and glacial sliding events. this will be
achieved through using water level loggers in affected lakes and a
moulin, fancy thermometers on the glacial surface as well as up the
banks of the lakes, and gps units will be staggered up the glacier in a
direct line up-valley. sediment catchments and water level loggers
will also be hung off a pedestrian footbridge over the kennicott river
(a glacially fed, sediment laden river that feeds into the chitna,
leading to the copper and then to the ocean). once i arrive at the
glacier in june, tim (the grad student i will be getting to know very
well over the summer months) and i will be trekking up the glacier 2
days to reach hidden creek lake, spending 10-14 days up on the ice and
then hiking back down to reload on gear and supplies. then we'll turn
around and do it again, though the second leg will be a little
different. tim is running his own experimentation on one of the
tributary glaciers feeding into the kennicott, the gates glacier.
structurally, the geology in this region is peculiar, as weaker
sedimentaries lie downslope from the more stubborn igneous formations
of the wrangell range. subjected to glacial erosion, these valleys
have eroded making way for massive ice falls. these icefalls produce
"ogives" or big waves on the glacier. his thesis is geared towards
putting a mathematical equation to what we see as a wavy glacier.
i could keep talking but i think i just realized that most of what i'm
saying might sound like chinese to some of you. please feel free to
write me back with any questions about this stuff, i'd be happy to keep
on going. if you'd like to see the glacier, the coordinates are 61 29'
31" N, 142 56' 44" W
check it out on google earth or nasa's worldwind (both programs are
free, but nasa's only works on pc's) i attached a picture so you can
have an idea of where i'll be.
also, the month of july is fairly empty for me. though i'll be 60
miles form the nearest paved road, if anyone is going to be in AK this
summer, let me know! i might be able to escape the ice! oh yeah,
anyone know somebody in alaska with a mtn bike? supposedly there's
some great riding up in the wrangell range.
on a COMPLETELY different note:
check out driveneutral.com
by purchasing carbon credits from the chicago climate exchange (CCX)
not only will you support cap-and-trading business practices of
emissions controls, but you will be offsetting your car's emission
through carbon sequestration (recapturing of CO2 from the atmosphere
through a wide variety of methods, which i would be happy to talk more
about if anyone's interested). support environmental business
practices, renewable energies, and help the earth. at least check it
out.
love to you all
-jimmy
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