HR: 0800h
AN: ED31B-1205    [Abstracts]
TI: The Svalbard REU Program: A High-Latitude Undergraduate Research Program in Glacial, Fluvial and Marine Processes Relevant to Arctic Climate Change
AU: Powell, R
EM: ross@geol.niu.edu
AF: Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115 United States
AU: * Brigham-Grette, J
ED31B-1205 AF: Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 United States
AU: Cumpston, R
ED31B-1205 AF: Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115 United States
AU: Trusel, L
ED31B-1205 AF: Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 United States
AU: Werner, A
ED31B-1205 AF: Department of Earth and Environment, Mt Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075 United States
AU: Roof, S
ED31B-1205 AF: School of Natural Science, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA 01002 United States
AU: Retelle, M
ED31B-1205 AF: Department of Geology, Bates College, Lewiston, ME 04240 United States
AB: A pilot-study field season was conducted this past summer from the most northerly permanent settlement in the world as part of our ongoing Svalbard REU program funded by the National Science Foundation (award OPP-0244097). Ny Alesund, on the island of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, is an international research center operated by Norway, and during summers, hosts about 100 scientists from over 15 nations. With NSF support, the US now participates in a new marine laboratory that opened this year, and we made that our operations center. The success of our field program is enhanced by tight logistics and research objectives integrated with UNIS (the University Centre on Svalbard), the Norwegian Polar Institute and Kings Bay AS. Our program provides genuine research experiences in Arctic Quaternary science for undergraduates. Research focuses on modern glacial sedimentation processes relevant to understanding records of past climate changes preserved in marine and lacustrine basins. Students in this marine portion of the program had a total immersion experience, being surrounded by scientists from different nations and from disciplines differing widely from theirs. They interacted with these scientists formally and informally, discussing their science plans, attending weekly science talks, and enjoying conversations at meal times. First, we introduced the students to arctic glacial and marine systems, and then through discussion and demonstration they developed their own research plans and made decisions on modifying sampling schemes through the field season. Studies focused on sediment transport and deposition in Kongsfjorden by polythermal tidewater glaciers, icebergs, meltwater streams and marine currents. Students sampled glaciers and icebergs for debris concentrations, collected seawater samples for suspended sediment concentrations, performed CTD casts to define water column structure, conducted bathymetric profiling using GPS control, and collected fjord sediment samples with small box-cores and short gravity cores. Also students were able to initially process samples in the marine lab. But in a practical sense they also learned survival away from home comforts, and how to deal and cope with unexpected occurrences as always arise when working in these environments. They are currently conducting laboratory research on samples and reducing and analyzing data, which will lead to theses and presentations at scientific meetings.
UR: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/go/svalbard
DE: 0720 Glaciers
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 1621 Cryospheric change (0776)
DE: 3022 Marine sediments: processes and transport
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005