Theme / Topics
Theme and topics
IGS 2015 Höfn in Hornafjörður
Glaciers and ice sheets store vast quantities of fresh water, and their hydrology is of wide-ranging importance. The hydrology of mountain glaciers has direct implications for water resources, flood risks, hydro-power, ice dynamics and erosion. The hydrology of larger ice sheets plays a critical role in their dynamics and mass balance, and, consequently, is important for oceanography, biology and climate science.
This symposium will provide a forum to discuss all aspects of glacier- and ice sheet hydrology and their connections to other areas of the cryosphere as well as climate sciences. It will provide an opportunity to present advances in ground-based measurements, remote sensing and modelling to stimulate discussions on their interpretation and implications. The meeting seeks to bring together scientists from around the world, to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge of glacier and ice-sheet hydrology and to provide a focus on key areas for future research.
TOPICS
The following topics define the focus of this upcoming symposium:
- Glacier Catchment Hydrology (timing and magnitude of runoff, floods and droughts, influence of climate change, subdaily variations, applications to stakeholders, future water availability)
- Supraglacial and Firn Hydrology (surface mass balance, meltwater retention in firn, percolation, ice lensing, supraglacial streams, lakes, influence on albedo, aquatic biological communities, ice/dust interaction, supraglacial systems on ice shelves and ice tongues)
- Englacial and Subglacial Hydrology (crevassing and moulins, influence on thermal structure, basal melting/freezing, englacial and subglacial channels, subglacial lakes, thermodynamics at meltwater-ice interface, biology)
- Basal Sliding and Ice Dynamics (sliding speed, dependence on effective pressure, cavitation, sediment strength, hydrology of ice streams, calving processes)
- Jökulhlaups and Hazards (subglacial lakes and outburst floods, marginal lakes, moraine-dammed lakes, timing and magnitude of discharge)
- Erosion and Landforms (role in quarrying, deformation and transport of sediments, eskers, drumlins, Mega-Scale Glacial Linations (MSGL))
- Hydrology of Subglacial Eruptions (meltwater production and pathways, eruption site water retention, steam and ash, floods, subglacial geothermal areas, porous media hydrology and thermodynamics)
- Instrumentation and Methods (remote sensing, field techniques, new technologies, geochemistry)
