Introducing the Students' Research

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 64

Hello!

Some questions posted to me have asked for information about the research in which the students are engaging. Because I think this information is important, I will post it here in the journal as well as in answer to the e-mails. Please feel free to ask questions that might come up as you are reading about these projects. I will direct these to the student researchers and they will provide an answer when they have a free moment.

The overriding goal of this project, which is part of the REU program funded by the National Science Foundation, is to provide a quality research experience for undergraduate students. There are seven undergraduate students and two principle investigators participating this first year in cohort I. A new group of students will participate next year and cohort III the year after. I have joined the team this year, as part of the TREC Program. The PIs and one of the students have previous experience in the region, having been a part of a preliminary team who spent three weeks in the region last summer. Each student is developing and engaging in their own individual project as well as collaborating to provide data to address some of the broader questions regarding the physical geography, geology, meteorology, and historical record of this dynamic high arctic area. It is hoped that by developing a depth of content knowledge, and by fully engaging in the processes that lead to a rich research experience, that these students will be both motivated and prepared to contribute to meaningful scientific research endeavors as they shape their careers. In this particular project, the focus for study is the area inland from KappLinné, located on a mountainous island in the Svalbard archipelago.

Last summer, various kinds of data collectors were deployed along the landforms that comprise this system, including LinnéVatnet (Lake Linné), LinnéElva (Linné Stream), LinnéDalen (Linné Valley), and LinnéBreen (Linné Glacier). Two meteorological stations have provided weather data from July 2003 to the present. Some of this data was compromised due to an avalanche incident at one station and an animal attack on the other, both occurring during the spring of 2004. Additional information has been collected using weather station data from surrounding locations such as at Isfjord Radio on KappLinné, the airport back at Longyearbyan, and meteorological sites throughout Svalbard. Data has been collected at Longyearbyan since 1911, with the most complete records available for the time between 1975 and the present. Various locations provide unique pieces of the puzzle. For example, Hornsund provides data on snowfall depths since 1995, while Ny-Alesund provides temperature and barometric pressure data back through the mid seventies. Comparing the historical record with the current data helps to explain phenomena and establish patterns and contributes to the analysis of the sediment record. Current projects center on this sediment record with hopes of gleaning insight into the past. Understanding past events and patterns helps researchers explain the present and guides them as they attempt to relate it to what might occur in the future.

After a preliminary introduction to the meteorology, geology, physical geography, and historical record for the area, students began to identify specific interests and then narrow their focus. Principle Investigators for this project, Dr. Al Werner (Mt. Holyoke College) and Dr. Steve Roof (Hampshire College) have considerable knowledge and experience in this geographical region as well as within the related research areas. They are masterfully facilitating this experience to provide the maximum opportunity for the students to gain specific content knowledge while engaging in quality research processes.

Edith Jaurrieta, a senior from the University of Texas at El Paso has identified her project entitled Understanding Upper Stream and Fluvial Systems of Lake Linné. She is attempting to study the relationship between weather conditions, discharge, and sediment concentration. Some of her questions that drive her research include whether the sediment concentration of the upper stream and the inlet stream are the same or varied and why. She is examining whether the sediment concentration and discharge rate varies by day and under what conditions. Some of the tasks involved in her research include collecting, processing, and analyzing water and sediment samples, obtaining data on such factors as turbidity, temperature, and velocity at various reference points, taking sediment core samples, gauging the stream and collecting discharge data. The analysis of this data, examined with consideration to existing weather patterns, is anticipated to provide a better understanding of the systems involved and how they influence the area.

Phil Lane, a senior from Cornell University is developing his research project entitled Weather in the Linné Valley. He will characterize meteorological conditions in the Linné Valley, attempt to understand the forcing for different weather patterns in the Linné Valley and relate the short-term local record to the regional instrumental record. He will rely on data provided by the lateral and terminal moraine loggers and cirque loggers and the central weather stations that were deployed last summer. In addition, he will use current and historical data from the region to provide answers to some of the questions involving what seem to be related weather patterns. With the amount of data Phil has available to him, he will analyze it on smaller time scales so that other processes become clear (e.g. diurnal changes, frontal passages). He will take a closer look at the effects of seasonality on local conditions and through these processes hopes to extend the understanding of the existing weather record. He has a strong interest in the lakes that are near Isfjord Radio and plans to study them thoroughly through water and sediment core sampling, observation, and establishing the relationships between these lakes and the weather that contributes to them systematically. Phil is drawing from his meteorological background and interests as he engages in this research, explaining that intense low pressures over open water can create storm surges these surges can deposit debris and disturb freshwater environments. Through examining the data, Phil hopes to unfold a historical record of past intense storm incidents, identify and preserve patterns of storminess, and relate these to sea ice coverage patterns.

Nick McKay, a senior from North Arizona State University is pursuing his project which focuses on Modern Sedimentation in Linné Vatnet. He hopes to characterize the modern sedimentation and weather induced sedimentation in Lake Linné and evaluate identified weather induced sedimentation patterns in the recent past. Basically, he will discern how specific events relate to the layers found in his sediment traps that he has deployed. To achieve his answers, Nick will study how sediments are transported through the lake, investigating variations in sedimentation rates, layering, and texture throughout the lake and determining how these variations change throughout the year. He will determine how the sedimentation rates correspond to temperature data. He will utilize flow meters to provide data that will help him better understand sub aqueous flow. Through his carefully prepared samples, he hopes to determine whether specific weather events will show up in the year-long records and to what degree large-scale weather events are identifiable. After focusing on the modern sedimentation rates, layering, and textural patterns, Nick plans to compare this data to sediments from a core. Through this comparison he hopes to be able to extrapolate the findings for this year into larger time scales.

Emily Pratt is a junior at Mt. Holyoke College. Having a depth of experience in this region after spending a month here last July, Emily is serving as a mentor and project assistant to the principle investigators. It is largely through the work that Emily, Steve, and Al initiated last summer that this current cohort has access to such rich data sources. Emily is engaging in her own research that extends that which she has been working on for the past year regarding the sedimentation record of Linné Lake. She is collecting various core samples and looking at sedimentation data in an attempt to create a profile of the lake, to include dating various historical atmospheric and geological events. She is also examining current data to better understand modern cycles and processes in Lake Linne. Emily has skillfully assisted Al and Steve in all logistical matters regarding our plans, equipment, and welfare. Her experience this summer will enhance Emily’s already strong leadership abilities and prepare her for the teaching assistant roles she will undertake in the fall.

Caleb Schiff is a senior at Indiana University. His research is entitled Stable Isotopes of Precipitation as a Climate Proxy. His research will take him repeatedly to the Linné Glacier, which is several kilometers away. That is a challenge in itself, because the weather is most often cold, with rain and sleet, and high winds, often even more extreme on the glacier, making Caleb’s work quite treacherous. Caleb will attempt to study and interpret the flow of ice in the glacier to go back in time. Through his research, Caleb hopes to better understand the behavior of stable isotopes of precipitation and to add to the climate data for Svalbard. He hopes to establish temperature reconstructions of the Linné Valley, correlate Linné Glacier to other Svalbard glaciers and other climate records from the arctic, and establish the framework for additional moisture source studies.

Melanie Schimek is a senior at Mancato State University in Minnesota. Her research, 2003-2004 Temperature Profile of Lake Linné, will contribute to the understanding of temperature changes occurring in Lake Linné during the past year. Emily states that this is important because temperature influences sediment distribution throughout the lake. She is collecting her data at various mooring sites throughout the lake and by using an electronic troll devise to collect real-time data for immediate analysis and comparison. For Melanie’s work, a thorough understanding of the bathymetry of the lake is essential. She is especially interested in the stratified inflow character and will seek evidence of underflow, interflow and overflow patterns. For this analysis, she will utilize data from a variety of sources including the temperature loggers on each mooring, various inflow stream temperature loggers, TROLL data from each mooring site, and weather station data. She is hoping to see evidence of seasonal change, including the indication of the overturning of the lake.

Elizabeth Thomas is a senior at Smith College in Massachusetts. She has entitled her research Sediment Providence in Linnédalen. Elizabeth’s goals are to attempt to determine the physical and chemical signals of each of the different types of bedrock (sandstone with carbon-rich shales and coal layers, phyllites, and carbonates with dolerite intrusions) that feed into the modern lacustrine system in the Linné Valley. Elizabeth then plans to use the signals identified in this modern system to apply to past sedimentation, as found in short cores taken from sediments in the lake bed. To accomplish this, she will need to collect water samples from inflow streams, discharge information of inflow streams, streambed sediment samples, samples at regular intervals along the main inflow stream, bedrock samples, and short core samples. Elizabeth’s research plans are quite energetic, matching her indomitable personality!