Evaluation of the Effects of Recharge Rate Versus Changes in the Configuration of the Subglacial Hydrological System on Glacier Hydrology

Jason Gulley博士被授予美国国家科学基金会地球科学博士后奖学金，在剑桥大学开展一项研究和教育计划。这项研究将首次提供一项技术的独立评估，该技术被广泛用于调查冰川水文系统的配置，染料追踪；这是了解冰川水文和冰川运动之间联系的物理过程的重要一步。该项目包括在融化季节开始和结束时绘制挪威斯瓦尔巴群岛寒冷的里珀冰川下的冰下管道（使用针对冰川的洞穴挖掘技术）。一旦初始地图完成，将通过管道进行一系列染料追踪实验，以确定通过去除积雪的充电速率变化如何影响染料追踪数据。从本研究中收集的管道水压和流量数据将用于校准冰川水文模型，这些模型可以根据直接获得的管道数据进行评估。实验室模型将用于研究冰下水文系统结构的变化如何影响水压和染料痕迹，因为这种类型的系统不太可能在物理上接近。实验室研究采用石灰岩喀斯特含水层管道形成模型，研究管道形成如何影响冰下水压的演变和冰川移动的速度。该项目通过实地调查提供新的工具来解释染料示踪技术的结果，并使用实验室模型来了解融水的输入如何增加冰下水压并导致冰川更快滑动。虽然这项研究对于理解冰川水文和运动之间的联系很重要，但冰川洞穴也是视觉上令人惊叹的现场，让广大观众兴奋不已。古利博士将通过向国际知名媒体投稿，与公众分享他的研究成果。除了发表关于冰洞的文章外，他还将为斯瓦尔巴群岛的公众和洞穴导游共同举办一次关于冰川洞穴安全和危险识别的年度讲座。在斯瓦尔巴群岛进行实地考察期间，古利博士将与肯塔基州东部农村中学的学生交换电子邮件和照片，并回答有关北极的问题。最后，他将在剑桥大学教授本科冰川学课程。

Dr. Jason Gulley has been awarded an NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a research and education plan at the University of Cambridge. This study will provide the first, independent assessment of a technique that is widely used to investigate the configuration of glacier hydrological systems, dye tracing; an important step in understanding the physical processes responsible for the links between glacier hydrology and glacier motion. The project includes mapping a subglacial conduit beneath the cold-based Rieper Glacier, in Svalbard, Norway (with caving techniques modified for glaciers) at the start and end of the melt season. Once the initial map is completed, a series of dye tracing experiments will be conducted through the conduits to determine how changes in the rate of recharge through the removal of the snowpack affect dye trace data. Conduit water pressure and discharge data collected from this study will be used to calibrate models of glacier hydrology which can be evaluated against directly obtained conduit data. Laboratory models will be used to investigate how changes in the configuration of subglacial hydrological systems affect water pressure and dye traces because this type of system is unlikely to be physically accessible. The laboratory study adapts models of conduit formation in limestone karst aquifers to investigate how conduit formation may affect the evolution of subglacial water pressure and influence how fast glaciers move. This project uses field investigations to provide new tools to interpret the results of dye tracing techniques and uses laboratory models to understand how meltwater inputs might increase subglacial water pressure and cause glaciers to slide faster. While this research is important for understanding links between glacier hydrology and motion, glacier caves are also visually stunning field sites that excite broad audiences. Dr. Gulley will share his research with the general public by contributing articles to international popular media outlets. In addition to publishing about ice caves, he will co-present an annual lecture on glacier cave safety and hazard recognition for the general public and cave guides in Svalbard. During fieldwork in Svalbard, Dr. Gulley will exchange emails and photographs and answer questions about the arctic with students at rural Eastern Kentucky middle schools. Lastly, he will teach an undergraduate glaciology course at the University of Cambridge.