BPRC News and Upcoming Events

Congratulations to Dr. C. K. Shum on receiving the 2008 University Distinguished Scholar Award. Shum is a professor in the School of Earth Sciences. "His work on climate change is celebrated. Shum has received many awards and distinctions, most recently for his work as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize."

Spring 2008 Course Offerings from Geology and BPRC:

Climate System Modeling: Basics and Applications: Geography 820.01
5 credit hours
Instructor: David H. Bromwich, Professor (bromwich.1@osu.edu)
Schedule: TR 3:00 - 5:00pm, Byrd Polar Research Center, Scott Hall Room 0140 on West Campus.
Call number: 10250-1.   

Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry: EarthSci 622
5 credit hours
Instructor: Dr. Andréa G. Grottoli, Assistant Professor (Grottoli.1@osu.edu)
Schedule: TR 11:30am - 1:18pm, plus 1 hour lab TBA;  room ML252
Call number: 17442-2

Interdepartmental Seminar in Polar and Alpine Studies:
The Uncertain Future of Ice: Exploring Sources of Uncertainty in Prognostic Models of the Cryosphere: Earth Sci. 896
Instructor: Dr. Ian Howat, Assistant Professor (ihowat@gmail.com)
Schedule: 3 hours/week, time and place TBA.  Please contact Dr. Howat with any questions.

February 12, 2008

The Thompson's were awarded the 2008 Dan David Prize today. The Dan David Prize, given annually by Tel Aviv University in Israel, awards a prize of US$1 million to each of three recipients for achievements having an outstanding scientific, technological, cultural or social impact in the world. Each year fields are chosen within three "time dimensions": Past, Present and Future. The Thompson's were announced as laureates in the Future (Geosciences) category.

From the announcement: 

"The 2008 Dan David Prize honors Ellen Mosley-Thompson and Lonnie G. Thompson, jointly, in the field of Geosciences for their separate and joint efforts in studying the geological and environmental records in ice cores ranging from the polar regions to the highest tropical and subtropical mountains on six continents and remote islands; and for providing high-resolution environmental histories that contribute to the understanding of complex interactions in the Earth's outer envelopes, such as the fast melting of mountain glaciers worldwide and the retreat and disintegration of polar icecaps."

I thought the Byrd Polar Research Center might be interested in my forthcoming book, Unknown Waters, A Firsthand Account of the Historic Under-Ice Survey of the Siberian Continental Shelf by USS Queenfish (SSN-651). It is scheduled to be released by the University of Alabama Press to book dealers/sellers in February of 2008. The late Captain William R. Anderson, skipper of USS Nautilus (SSN-571) during her historic 1958 transpolar voyage wrote the foreword and Clive Cussler (famous writer and discoverer of the Confederate submarine Hunley), Dr. Don Walsh (Mariannas Trench dive in Trieste in 1960 with Piccard) , Gary Weir - former Historian of the U. S. Navy, and Admirals John H. Nicholson (USS Sargo - 1st all-winter Arctic Ocean expedition) and George Steele (USS Seadragon - 1st survey of the Northwest Passage and 1st Atlantic to Pacific Transpolar voyage) have all written superb "book jacket" comments.

                                                                   Alfred S. McLaren

                                                                   Captain, USN (Ret.), Ph.D.

                                                                   alfredsmclaren@aol.com

• Addressing "climate skeptics"
• Defining,describing and understanding "uncertainty"
• Providing a long-term context for climate change
• Future climate scenarios and regional variability
• The process and creation of the report 

Jason Box, glaciologist and climatologist at the Byrd Polar Research Center, appeared on The Today Show on NBC this morning. Matt Lauer reports from Greenland on the abrupt melting of Greenland's ice cap. The Today Show is exploring climate change in a segment called Ends of the Earth, which is running from 7:00 - 9:00 AM on Monday November 5th and Tuesday November 6th.

To view Jason's segment, visit the Ends of the Earth website and click on the Matt Lauer reports from Greenland video under "View from the Arctic".

"Two National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientists, a U.S. Antarctic Program glaciologist and a recipient of the national Medal of Science, will receive the Lowell Thomas Award from the New York-based Explorers Club on Oct. 18 in recognition of their work at the frontiers of climate research.

The awards are presented by the president of the Explorers Club to groups of outstanding explorers who have distinguished themselves in a particular field. Five of this year's eight awardees are federal government scientists or receive their primary funding from the federal government. This year's awards theme is 'Exploring Climate Change.'"

"W. Berry Lyons, an NSF grantee, director of the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University and lead principal investigator for the McMurdo Dry valleys Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) project will be honored for his studies of the geochemistry of global climate change."

For more information: Explorers Club to Honor NSF-Funded Researchers and Glaciologist for Climate-Science Breakthroughs

He will give a lecture on Wed. Oct. 17 at 3:30pm in Room 240 Scott Hall. The title of his talk is Antarctic System Science - Early Results and Emerging Priorities.

Abstract:
In the mid-1990's NSF funded the "Research on Ocean Atmosphere Variability and Ecosystem Response in the Ross Sea" (ROAVERRS) experiment to take a "systems-wide" approach to understanding the Antarctic marine ecosystem. In this talk I will discuss our results from this field program and then I will use it to illustrate the broader landscape of how the government sets research priorities and how these priorities feed into the federal budget process.

Dr. Diane McKnight will be interviewing for the BPRC Directorship 21-24 Oct. 

She will give a lecture on Monday, Oct. 22 at 3:30pm in 240 Scott Hall. The title of her talk is Glacial Meltwater Streams of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica:  Ecosystems Waiting for Water 

The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica contain many glacial meltwater streams that flow for 6 to 12 weeks during the austral summer and link the glaciers to the lakes on the valley floors.  Dry valley streams gain solutes longitudinally through weathering reactions and microbial processes occurring in the hyporheic zone, evident as a damp area underneath and adjacent to the stream. The lower boundary of the hyporheic zone is determined by the depth to permafrost. On sunny days, stream temperatures can reach 15 °C, and advection of this warm water can erode the frozen lower boundary of the hyporheic zone. In cold summers, streamflow is fed mostly by melt from the faces of the source glaciers and a large portion of this meltwater may be stored in the hyporheic zone and then lost through sublimation, rather than discharged to the lakes. Some streams have thriving microbial mats composed of cyanobacteria and diatoms. These mats are freeze-dried through the winter and begin photosynthesizing with the onset of flow.  To evaluate the longer term persistence of cynaobacterial mats, we diverted flow to an abandoned channel, which had not received substantial flow for approximately two decades. We observed that cyanobacterial mats became abundant in the reactivated channel within a week, indicating that the mats had been preserved in a cryptobiotic state in the channel. Over the next several years, these mats had high rates of productivity and nitrogen fixation compared to mats from other streams. These stream-scale experimental results indicate that the cryptobiotic preservation of cyanobacterial mats in abandoned channels in the dry valleys allows for rapid response of stream ecosystems to climatic and geomorphological change.    

Bryan Mark at BPRC is running Geography 820.01 (Current Issues in Climate, Water, and Carbon) during Autumn quarter. The seminar, open to graduate students from all disciplines, will involve critically reviewing current research related to climate, hydrology and the carbon cycle.

Call#: 21506-1
Credits: 3 or 5
Location: Scott Hall 136
Time: Wednesday 3:45-6pm^*

The climate system mediates the exchange of energy and matter at the Earth’s surface and vitally couples people to their physical and biological environment. Water, as solid, liquid and vapor, plays a key role in the atmospheric transfer of heat, and is an essential resource for human society. A growing level of scientific understanding about how humans influence climate through the moderation of the carbon cycle raises concern for the future, and implicates policy responses. The very real prospect of human induced climate change has placed a new premium on interdisciplinary scientific research to better understand the complex nature of climate changes over time, anticipate future impacts, and explore the policy dimensions.

In this seminar, open to graduate^** students from all disciplines, we will engage such concerns by critically reviewing current research related to climate, hydrology and the carbon cycle. A goal will be to develop scientific literacy on issues that have broader impacts to society. Emphasis will be placed on communicating concepts clearly and sharing ideas across disciplines. We will also highlight research conducted on The Ohio State University campus, where many different academic units are engaged with related projects, and a recently proposed interdisciplinary program has been top-ranked for timely investment in excellence by the Provost (http://oaa.osu.edu/TIE2.php). Specific course content will be directed by student interests, but some possible questions to be addressed include:

What are the observable changes in the climate system, and how might they impact human society? Is abrupt climate change caused by humans? How do climate changes impact the water cycle, and availability of water resources? Are storms increasing in frequency or intensity as a result of human-induced warming? How do aerosol concentrations impact cloud development? What large scale teleconnections link the atmosphere and hydrosphere, and how are they impacted under changing climate? How might alternative energy development improve or degrade water quality? What adaptation strategies and policy responses are being considered to deal with these complex problems?

Class requirements: There are no prerequisites. Each student will develop his/her own case studies to engage an issue of their choice, select readings from the current and historical literature, and lead class discussion. Those completing 5 credits will summarize their research in a term paper. Attendance and active participation will be required during the weekly class that will convene in the state-of-the-art Learning Center at the Byrd Polar Research Center (140 Scott Hall).

^*class time subject to change, depending on student demand

^**upper level undergraduates may also be admitted with the instructor’s permission

Tuesday September 4, 2007

BPRC researcher Bryan Mark (Assistant Professor of Geography) and former OSU postdoctoral researcher Jeff McKenzie (McGill University) have employed measurements of changes in stable isotope ratios in streams on the western side of the Cordillera Blanca in northern Peru to show that discharge has increased by 1.6% in recent years compared to historical data.  The results demonstrate the utility of using stable isotopes to distinguish glacial- from non-glacial- melt contributions in watersheds, and also confirm predictions of short-term increases in discharge as glaciers melt.  Long-term decreases in stream discharge due to the acceleration of glacial melt may have potentially devastating effects on populations that rely on the streams for water resources.  The research, undertaken as part of OSU's Climate Water and Carbon (CWC) Initiative, will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.