Fieldwork Brief

Spring team 2011's brief is the same as previous years...so I thought I'd do a quick run down of what is being covered...

Glaciers currently hold 60% of the world’s fresh water and cover 10% of the land area. Glacier monitoring is becoming increasingly important due to global climate change and its effects on glaciers. Research began in the late-18th century but as technology has improved and remote areas are now more accessible, scientific research has increased and the understanding of glaciers has improved significantly. We must now use this knowledge to try and explain how glaciers will change due to warming climates and how this will impact on life around the world.

The Extreme Arctic expedition starting in Svalbard and heading beyond the arctic sheet began in 2006 and each year fieldwork projects have been repeated to allow us to obtain a more in-depth understanding of the processes occurring within the expedition area. This means that the main body of the fieldwork will be repeated in 2011 (although there will be ample opportunity for other projects of interest). By employing this method, we are able to build a picture of the region as an indicator for the whole of Svalbard and wider polar environments.

As the spring expedition returns to the same area each year it provides an ideal opportunity to investigate any contemporary changes in local glacial behaviour. During May 2009, five members of that team surveyed an ice cave discovered by one of the expedition leaders four years previously. In 2011, we will return to the cave’s location and re-survey the interior to see how it has changed and evolved over the past two years.

To support our science work, links have been made with the UK Polar Network, International Glaciological Society, Scott Polar Research Institute and University of Cambridge Geography department.