GEOL318 - Glaciers,Ice & Climate

All forms of frozen water at Earth's surface define the cryosphere. These icy environmnets are an integral part of the global climate system, with important linkages and feedbacks resulting from their influences on surface energy and moisture fluxes, clouds, precipitation, hydrology, and circulation in the atmosphere and oceans. This course will survey the various components of the cryosphere and their interactions with climate, with a strong emphasis on the dynamics of glaciers and ice sheets. Broad topics to be covered are 1)the rudimentary mechanics of glacier and ice sheet flow, 2)fast-flowing ice streams and factors limiting their motion, 3)ice-quakes and their origins, 4)the nature of climate data recorded in natural ice bodies, 5)the influence of climate on the stability of ice sheets and glaciers, and 6)glacier-like flow on other planetary bodies. This will be a lecture-based course with written assignmnets and problems sets. Prerequisite: Students should have basic knowledge of Calculus.