Cryospheric Sciences

Image of the Week – Apocalypse snow? … No, it’s sea ice!

Jean-Louis Tison February 10, 2017

Sea-ice brine sampling is sometimes challenging [Credit: Stefan Hendricks]

Sea ice brine sampling is always great fun, but sometimes somewhat challenging ! As sea water freezes to form sea ice, salts in the water are rejected from the ice and concentrate in pockets of very salty water, which are entrapped within the sea ice. These pockets are known as “brines”. Scientists sample these brines to measure the physical and bio-geochemical properties, such as: tem ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – Supraglacial debris variations in space and time!

Morgan Gibson February 3, 2017

Figure 1: A schematic diagram of debris distribution on a debris-covered glacier, showing spatial variation in debris distribution with regards to rock type and layer thickness. Modelled on Baltoro Glacier, Karakoram. Surface velocity, sediment flux and debris thicknesses would vary between glaciers. Click here for a larger version. [Credit: Gibson et al., unpublished]

There is still a huge amount we don’t know about how glaciers respond to climate change. One of the most challenging areas is determining the response of debris-covered glaciers. Previously, we have reported on a number of fieldwork expeditions to debris-covered glaciers but with this Image of The Week we want to show you another way to investigate these complex glaciers – numerical modelling! Deb ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – On the tip of Petermann’s (ice) tongue

Céline Heuzé January 27, 2017

Petermann's ice tongue. [Credit: C. Heuzé]

5th August 2015, 10:30 in the morning. The meeting had to be interrupted to take this picture. We were aboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden, and were now closer than anyone before to the terminus of Petermann Glacier in northwestern Greenland. But we had not travelled that far just for pictures… Petermann’s ice tongue Petermann is one of Greenland’s largest “marine terminating glaciers”. As the name ...[Read More]

Katabatic winds – A load of hot (or cold) air?

Thomas Shaw January 25, 2017

Figure 1: A schematic of the potential wind flow and interplay of local effects on Tsanteleina Glacier in the Italian Alps. The diagram represents wind modelling, measured data and observations from the field. (1) The interactions of down-glacier katabatic winds (blue) and up-valley winds/local heat sources (red); (2) the potential heat emitted from the warm valley surroundings (pink) and; (3) localised surface depressions representing glacier 'cold spots' during calm, high pressure conditions. Arrows correspond to synoptic westerlies (purple), southerly airflow (orange), katabatic winds (blue) and valley winds (red) [Credit: T Shaw, unpublished] - Click here for a larger version.

It might seem obvious that a warming world will lead to a reduction in glacial ice cover, but predicting the response of glaciers to climatic change is no simple task (even within the short term). One way to approach this problem is to come up with relationships which describe how glaciers interact with the world around them, for example, how the ice interacts with the air above it. Our post today ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – For each tonne of CO2 emitted, Arctic sea ice shrinks by 3m² in summer

David Docquier January 20, 2017

Mean area of Arctic September sea ice lost by CO₂ emissions of each citizen for each country of the world in 2013. These results are based on the observed trend of 3 m² sea-ice area loss per tonne of CO₂ emitted [Credit: adapted from Notz and Stroeve (2016), Fig.S1]

Declining sea ice in the Arctic is definitely one of the most iconic consequences of climate change. In a study recently published in Science, Dirk Notz and Julienne Stroeve find a linear relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and loss of Arctic sea-ice area in summer. Our image of this week is based on these results and shows the area of September Arctic sea ice lost per inhabitant d ...[Read More]

Polar Exploration: Perseverance and Pea Sausages

Nanna B. Karlsson January 15, 2017

"Pølse” it says on the tin i.e. “sausage”. On the other side the word “ærte” (“pea”) is printed, in other words “pea sausage”. This is one of the tins brought to Greenland on the ill-fated Danish expedition 1904-1906 led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen. Credit: Danish Arctic Institute.

Born on this Day On this day in 1872 – 145 years ago –Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, Danish author and polar explorer, was born. He led two expeditions to Greenland and successfully mapped the then unknown northeastern part of the country. The second expedition was his last. The expedition was surprised by an early onset of spring and could no longer use their dog sledges. The two Danes, Mylius-Eri ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – It’s all a bit erratic in Yosemite!

Emma C. Smith January 13, 2017

Figure 1: Glacial erratic rocks in Yosemite National Park [Credit: Yuvak Sadeh via Imaggeo]

When you think of California, with its sun-soaked beaches and Hollywood glamour, glaciers may not be the first thing that spring to mind – even for ice nerds like us. However, Yosemite National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada is famous for its dramatic landscape, which was created by glacial action. With our latest image of the week we show you some of the features that were left behind b ...[Read More]

Image of the Week — Looking back at 2016

Sophie Berger January 6, 2017

I cannot believe that a full year has passed since this very cute pink unicorn wished you a Happy New Year. Yet, over the past 12 months our blog has attracted more than 16,200 visits. And the blog analytics show that you, our dear readers, are based not only in Europe but literally all over the world! With 67 new posts published in only 52 weeks, it’s more than likely that you missed a few inte ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – The Sound of an Ice Age

Nanna B. Karlsson December 30, 2016

The blue curves show the δOxygen-18 values for NorthGRIP in Greenland (top) and WAIS in Antarctica (bottom) for the last 20,000 years. The black dots are 1,000 years values, and the far left hand side of the curves are present day values.

New Year’s Eve is just around the corner and the last “image of the week” of 2016 will get you in the mood for a party. If your celebration needs a soundtrack with a suitably geeky touch then look no further. Here is the music for climate enthusiasts: The sound of the past 60,000 years of climate. Scientist Aslak Grinsted (Centre for Ice and Climate, University of Copenhagen, Denmark) has transfor ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

Clara Burgard December 23, 2016

Probability of a White Christmas in the USA (based on weather data from 1981-2010). [ Credit : National Climate Data Center, NOAA. Via Wikimedia Commons]

Christmas is coming to town and in the Northern Hemisphere many of us are still dreaming of a white Christmas, “just like the ones we used to know”. But how likely is it that our dreams will come true? What is the definition of a White Christmas ? Usually Christmas can be defined as a “White Christmas” if the ground is covered by snow on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day depending on local tra ...[Read More]