St Mary’s to Host Research Seminar on High Arctic Deglaciation

The School of Management and Social Sciences (MSS) at St Mary’s University, Twickenham is to host a guest lecture exploring the impact of sediment movement in the thawing of High Arctic glaciers in a research seminar on Wednesday 18^th February. The seminar entitled Clean and dirty waters: fluvio-glacial responses to High-Arctic deglaciation, will be given by visiting lecturer Dr Philip Porter, University of Hertfordshire. The seminar will discuss how research has shown melting sections of a glacier can contribute sediment to rivers in its water catchments and onto the glacier’s surface. Findings from preliminary observations in the High-Arctic have shown that the mobilisation of thawing ice-marginal slopes may represent a significant source of sediment in deglaciating catchments. Analysis of remotely sensed imagery has allowed identification of several areas on the Austre Brøggerbreen glacier, Svalbard, where this process is taking place. These locations were subsequently confirmed through field observation. Detailed field measurements of sediment delivery and movement were therefore undertaken in order to assess the significance of ice-marginal sediment delivery to the glacier hydrological and sedimentary systems. Sensors installed within ice-marginal slope deposits, combined with time-lapse photography, confirm that collapse of thawing ice-marginal deposits delivers significant quantities of sediment to the glacier surface and that this sediment then comprises a significant portion of the overall sediment load carried through and from the glacier by meltwaters. Dr Porter will explain how these findings confirm the importance of ice marginal slope collapse and resultant delivery of sediments, to the overall sediment yield of deglaciating regions. All are welcome to attend the free seminar, which will be held at St Mary’s Strawberry Hill Campus on Wednesday 18^th February 2015, from 4pm. For further information please contact Dr Victoria Armstrong victoria.armstrong@stmarys.ac.uk.