Dear colleagues,
We would like to draw your attention to two sessions of potential
interest to our community at the forthcoming EGU General Assembly in
Vienna, 27 April – 02 May 2014:
1) GM 9.1 Cold Regions Geomorphology
(http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2014/session/14254)
Solicited speaker: Prof. Chris Clark (University of Sheffield)
2) GM 9.3/CL 2.16 Glacial landforms and palaeoclimatic interpretation
(http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2014/session/14255)
Solicited speaker: TBA
Please note that the deadline for abstract submission is the 16th of
January 2014.
We look forward to receiving your abstract.
Best wishes,
Sven Lukas, Isabelle Gärtner-Roer, Matteo Spagnolo, Stefan Winkler,
Tim Davies, Lasafam Iturrizaga and Philip Deline.
Session descriptions:
GM 9.1 Cold regions geomorphology
Present-day glacial and periglacial processes in cold regions, i.e.
arctic and alpine environments, provide modern analogues to processes
and climatic changes that took place during the Pleistocene, including
gradual retreat or collapse of ice sheets and mountain glaciers, and
melting and shrinking of low-land permafrost. Current changes in
mid-latitude mountain ranges could also serve as a proxy for future
changes in arctic regions within a context of climate change (e.g.
speed-up of creeping permafrost features, relictification of rock
glaciers).
We invite contributions that either:
1. investigate present-day glacial and/or periglacial landforms,
sediments and processes to describe the current state, to reconstruct
past environmental conditions and to predict future scenarios in cold
regions; or
2. have a Quaternary focus and aim at enhancing our understanding of
past glacial, periglacial and paraglacial processes, also through the
application of dating techniques.
Case studies that use a multi-disciplinary approach (e.g. field,
laboratory and modelling techniques) and/or that highlight the
interaction between the glacial, periglacial and paraglacial
cryospheric components in cold regions are particularly welcome.
GM 9.3/CL 2.16 Glacial landforms and palaeoclimatic interpretation
Glaciers are important indicators of present and past climate changes,
thus being vital tools for palaeoclimatic inference.
Glacially-generated landforms (e.g. moraines) are frequently dated to
reconstruct glacier chronologies and, thus, the past climate history.
Dating techniques applied to glacial landforms have improved
substantially during the past few decades and promising new methods
(e.g. terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating) have recently been
successfully used. However, this improvement in dating techniques has
not been matched by corresponding attention to the processes causing
the formation of the dated features and the implications of these
processes for past glacier behaviour. High standard laboratory- and
field-based dates often contrast with simplistic inferences of the
glacial-geomorphological and palaeoclimatic contexts of the landforms
dated.
This session addresses the geomorphological uncertainties in glacier
reconstruction and thus palaeoclimatic interpretation of glacial
landform ages. Contributions from all related fields are welcome,
including studies on how non-climatic events (e.g. large mass
movements deposited on glacier surfaces) influence both glacier
behaviour and moraine formation. Studies of "normal" glaciers vs.
debris-covered, surging, or calving glaciers should lead to a better
understanding of how glacial landforms should be interpreted in a
climatological context. Also, studies applying different dating
techniques to glacial landforms are welcomed in order to bring
together scientists using different approaches.
PD Dr. Stefan Winkler
Department of Geological Sciences
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand
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