2017 Ablation Zone Photos
In July 2017 I spent 1 week at a field location in the ablation zone in the Issunguata Sermia catchment. This field site was where scientists from the University of Montana and University of Wyoming installed inclinometers and temperature sensors throughout the ice column in 9 boreholes. I helped to dismantle the field experiments and map the bed using ground penetrating radar.
2017 Ablation Zone Photos
In July 2017 I spent 1 week at a field location in the ablation zone in the Issunguata Sermia catchment. This field site was where scientists from the University of Montana and University of Wyoming installed inclinometers and temperature sensors throughout the ice column in 9 boreholes. I helped to dismantle the field experiments and map the bed using ground penetrating radar.
2017 Ablation Zone Photos
Investigating permeability controls on water movement through polar firn using 3D printed models
I have just received a Graduate Research Grant from UNR to pursue this proposed research. 3D printing of firn columns will begin soon - so stay tuned!
This project aims to understand how permeability of polar firn impacts the flow and storage of meltwater within ice sheets. Knowledge of physical processes governing water infiltration and retention in firn will inform our estimates of ice sheet meltwater storage potential, and thus sea level rise, under warming climate scenarios. We will study previously recovered firn core samples with similar bulk porosities, but different measured permeabilities, to examine how permeability influences water flow through firn. We will test two hypotheses: (1) Sharp contrasts in permeability from fine-to-coarse grain transitions will result in hydraulic barriers to flow and pooling of water above these horizons; and (2) firn cores with lower bulk permeabilities will have restricted water flow, which will result in increased water retention and higher rates of refreezing. The goals of this project are two-fold. We hope to establish a new, low-cost method to examine water flow through firn by 3-D printing previously collected cores. Additionally, we aim to provide evidence to incorporate permeability estimates, instead of only density-derived porosity estimates, into models examining meltwater infiltration and storage within firn on ice sheets.
A ~4 cm tall section of a firn core from the South Pole. This section is from ~ 18 m depth. This computer-generated mesh will be printed and stored in the cold room at UNR.