Interactions between ice, meltwater, ocean and atmosphere at Canada's northern coast

加拿大北部海岸冰、融水、海洋和大气之间的相互作用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-06244
• 负责人: Mueller, Derek
• 金额: $ 1.75万
• 依托单位: Carleton University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=660381
• 关键词: Interactions; between; ice; meltwater; ocean

Major transformation is currently underway in atmospheric, oceanic and cryospheric environments in the Canadian Arctic. Climate change has drastically reduced the volume of sea ice in the circum-Arctic, while in terrestrial environments glaciers are melting. Coastal environments, where watersheds, glaciers, meltwater, floating ice and ocean interact, are also changing rapidly. Climate warming has already altered the thick ice at Canada's northernmost coast. Vast ice shelves that have existed along the north coast of Ellesmere Island for thousands of years have lost 50% of their areal extent in break-up events over the last decade. ***My research will examine changes in thickness of these ice shelves by employing innovative remote sensing technology that will be used to better define the relationship between climate and coastal cryospheric change. My students and I will use remote sensing techniques to identify different types of ice exposed at the surface and evaluate whether changes in the motion of glaciers is implicated in the calving of certain ice shelves while modelling the stresses in other ice shelves to examine various possible mechanisms of ice break-up. ***Arctic fiords are a critical link between the ocean, coastal ice shelves and terrestrial glaciers. The ice shelves along the northern coast of Ellesmere Island once dammed glacial meltwater at the head of fiords, creating a layer of fresh water overlying seawater, called an epishelf lake. With recent collapse of ice shelves, and subsequent drainage of the lakes, only one such lake remains in Canada. The epishelf lake in Milne Fiord is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. My team and I will study the oceanographic influences on the stability of the Milne Ice Shelf by examining sub-ice shelf flow of epishelf lake water using current meters and oceanographic moorings. We will determine how meltwater runoff and changes in the thickness of the freshwater layer is related to ice shelf break-up events for an enhanced understanding of the processes that are now reshaping the coast of Ellesmere Island and the Arctic coastal cryosphere. My program will provide graduate training in state-of-the-art remote sensing analysis and field research in remote Arctic Canada. This research will help determine the implications of the profound environmental transformation now underway in the Arctic.

目前，加拿大北极地区的大气、海洋和冰冻圈环境正在发生重大变化。气候变化大大减少了环北极地区的海冰体积，而在陆地环境中，冰川正在融化。流域、冰川、融水、浮冰和海洋相互作用的沿海环境也在迅速变化。气候变暖已经改变了加拿大最北端海岸的厚冰。沿着埃尔斯米尔岛北海岸存在了数千年的巨大冰架在过去十年的破裂事件中失去了50%的面积。我的研究将通过采用创新的遥感技术来检查这些冰架厚度的变化，这些技术将被用来更好地定义气候和沿海冰冻圈变化之间的关系。我和我的学生将使用遥感技术来识别暴露在地表的不同类型的冰，并评估冰川运动的变化是否与某些冰架的崩解有关，同时对其他冰架的应力进行建模，以检查冰破裂的各种可能机制。北极峡湾是连接海洋、沿海冰架和陆地冰川的重要纽带。埃尔斯米尔岛北部海岸的冰架曾经在峡湾的顶端堵住了冰川融水，在海水上形成了一层淡水，被称为冰架湖。随着最近冰架的崩塌和随后湖泊的排水，这样的湖泊在加拿大只剩下一个。米尔恩峡湾的浅滩湖极易受到气候变化的影响。我和我的团队将通过使用流速计和海洋系泊来检测冰架下湖水的流动，研究海洋学对米尔恩冰架稳定性的影响。我们将确定融水径流和淡水层厚度的变化与冰架破裂事件的关系，以便更好地了解正在重塑埃尔斯米尔岛海岸和北极沿海冰冻圈的过程。我的项目将在加拿大偏远的北极地区提供最先进的遥感分析和实地研究方面的研究生培训。这项研究将有助于确定正在北极进行的深刻的环境变化的影响。