Initial Publication Date: October 11, 2023

Student Materials

For the Instructor

These student materials complement the Exploring the Glacier Basin System Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box).

Module 1: Exploring the Glacier Basin System

Unit 1: Overview of the Glacier Basin System

Students are introduced to the geography of the Arctic and Greenland, and use interactive exercises to identify the fjord-to-glacier landscape features they might encounter in a polar glacier basin system. To prepare for this unit, you will need to watch the Pre-Unit and Part 1 videos

Part 1:

Where is Greenland and what are the characteristics of the Arctic?

Prior to the class meeting, all students should watch these four short videos as an introduction to gain a sense of glaciers, ice sheets, and Greenland.

Students answer the following questions related to the videos for homework:

  • Where is Greenland located?
  • How do you differentiate between an ice sheet and glaciers?
  • What are 3 defining features of the Arctic or Greenland?

Part 2:

Introduction to the Kangerlussuaq glacier basin system.

Students will observe the geography and landscape of the Kangerlussuaq glacier basin system in the GoogleEarth Project Tour.

Gallery Walk: Students will be given random images of components of the glacier system (Kangerlussuaq GBS, Instructor PPT Mod1 Unit1 Part2 Intro to Kanger GBS Images PolarPASS Instructor.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 197.6MB Feb1 22)).

  • They will be asked to briefly research a component of the glacier system.
  • The instructor will designate which side of the wall is the head of the glacier basin system and where the outlet to the fjord is located.
  • From here students will arrange their images into the broader glacier basin system. As they find their location within the glacier system they will be asked to explain their component to others that are next to them or maybe find others who have similar components and discuss the characteristics.

Digital Alternative: Using the same images above (Kangerlussuaq GBS, Instructor PPT), in small groups (4-5) students place the individual system components in the context of the whole system using GoogleSlides (GoogleSlide template with Head and Outlet designated).

360 Interactive Environments

Extra Resources: 360 Equivalent Images

What we learned:

  • What is special about Greenland (including an emotional connection)?
  • Where the Russell/Leverett Glaciers and Watson River region is and how it fits in the larger regional/Greenland landscape.
  • System components of glacier basin from head to outlet, and into the river/ocean interface.

Unit 2: Glacier Mass Balance, Albedo, and Surface Melt

Using imagery, interactive online data, and GIS activities, students learn about the changing seasonal character of the ice sheet surface, and what this means for the creation of surface melt, the albedo (reflectivity) of the ice surface, and implications for gaining or losing ice mass.

Part 1:

In this lesson students are beginning to learn about and explore the seasonal changes in the glacier basin system, focusing on the glacier surface. The image slide deck provides image comparisons for the glacier surface properties across the annual seasons. Instructors can use the image slide deck and have students respond to Think-Pair-Share prompts via clicker (or comparable app) while students engage in think-pair-share discussions around the questions.

Think-Pair-Share Prompts

  1. Which three-month category most closely relates to peak snow accumulation? And peak glacier melt? DJF, MAM, JJA, or SON?
  2. How does the reflectivity of the ice sheet change from January to December?
  3. What are some positive feedback loops (think processes) that might be occurring on the surface of the ice sheet?

Part 2:

Work with NSIDC Greenland Melt Map and albedo data. Students develop their own albedo data plots based on the raw data, to visualize the seasonal evolution in surface melt in 3 key regions (divide, transition/ELA, margin). Also, discuss the equilibrium line altitude (ELA), glacier mass balance, and weather (temperature, precipitation).

Part 2 exercises use the QGreenland QGIS environment. Follow these instructions to install these tools: Mod 1 GIS Setup Instructions.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 2.3MB Dec8 21)

Part 3:

In Part 3 students will be introduced to the concept of natural glacier length fluctuations due to glacier mass balance variations.

What we learned:

  • Students understand the annual cycle of glacier ice mass gain and mass loss, and how this influences the glacier surface.
  • Students know what albedo means and how and when it changes on the glacier surface.

Unit 3: A Look Inside and Underneath the Glacier

This unit explores the important role of ice melt in the glacier basin system. Beginning at the ice sheet surface and then traveling through and underneath the ice, students learn about seasonal meltwater patterns and their connections to ice sheet motion and terrestrial river discharge.

Part 1:

Students view photos of supraglacial melt ponds/lakes, channels, moulins, ice caves/conduits at the margin. Students then hypothesize on water paths through the ice and glacier system changes. Then discuss ideas, terms, evidence.

Afterward, students watch Videos.

  • Video: Unit 3 Part 1: Greenland 2014: Follow the Water (~7 min)
  • Bonus Videos: Greenland's Extreme Melt (2020) (~3 min) and Gauging Greenland's Melt (2016) (~5 min)

Part 2:

Introduction to ice motion and links between hydrology and motion

  • Image Slide Deck: Mod1 Unit3 Part2 Albedo-SurfaceMelt FeedbackLoops IceMotion.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 23.5MB Oct20 22) - Data figures for annual melt day anomalies and June/July/August albedo anomalies, including 2012, 2013, and 2014. Included are diagrams of how to identify feedback loops and key figures related to the ice motion readings. The last section of slides discuss links between ice sheet hydrology and glacier flow speed.
  • Video: Ice albedo feedback (~1 min)
    • Think-pair-share: The video described the role of the ice albedo feedback for sea ice. Are there differences between the ice-albedo feedback loop for sea ice vs. land ice (Greenland Ice Sheet)? If so, what are they?
  • Exercise: Ice Albedo Feedback Loops, Surface Melt, and Ice Motion-Mod1 Unit 3 Part2 Albedo Surface Melt FeedbackLoops Exercise STUDENT.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 370kB Sep27 23)
  • Video: NASA seasonal speed visualization (2 videos, ~1.5 min)
  • Reading/Jigsaw Activity: Chu, V. W. (2014). Greenland ice sheet hydrology: A review. Divvy up the reading by topic sections and assign to evenly divided number of groups. Have each group review their assigned section and then prepare 3 key takeaways that each individual will share out in the larger combined groups.
    • After doing the in-class Jigsaw from the assigned reading, return to the Image Slide Deck to consider key graphics about connections between hydrology and subglacial water flow and the speed of glacier flow. Additional resources for the Instructor on the topic are available in the References section:
      • On land-terminating ice motion: Davison et al., 2019 and Tedstone et al., 2015
      • On marine-terminating ice motion: Moon et al., 2014
  • Instructors will use QGIS to highlight some examples of Greenland glacier surface velocity for 2019-20 and their long-term averages.
    • Optional exercise: Students use QGIS to explore Greenland glacier surface velocity for 2019-20 and long-term averages for 5 different glacier systems, including land and marine terminating, from the terminus up into the ice sheet. Investigate glaciers from multiple sectors of Greenland (e.g., NW, SE, etc.).

Part 3:

Students plot/explore seasonal surface melt extent to test the hypothesis of seasonal changes to stream discharge and glacier movement. Ask: How might this influence glacier/ice sheet motion?

Students are given three different annual scenarios (2012, 2013, 2014) and they have to match the discharge data with the seasonal temperature data (also for use in Unit 5, Part 2). Students will graph the seasonal cycle of air temperature and river discharge and then determine which years led to higher or lower streamflows.

What we learned:

  • How water moves through glacier systems.
  • That water travels through and alters englacial/subglacial conduits.
  • Changes in subglacial hydrology influence seasonal changes in glacier motion.

Unit 4: Transition from Glacier Margin to Land

The presence of a glacier in a basin system has substantial influence on the terrestrial hydrology, including river discharge. This unit explores these differences between glaciated and unglaciated basins.

Part 1:

Students begin by exploring the 360IE to get a sense of the seasonal changes in river discharge from a glaciated and less-glaciated basin. In this case, the glaciated-basin is the the Watson River in the Kangerlussuaq Glacier Basin System. The less-glaciated basin is the Nooksack River watershed in WA state.

360 Interactive Environments

Students then draw what they predict as the hydrograph for a glaciated and less-glaciated basin. (Note, think of what other sources of water may influence discharge and annual water balance hydrograph in the Nooksack River Watershed of the Pacific Northwest).

Next, students then plot (via Excel) stream discharge from the Watson River stream gauge throughout the season and match with photos of high and low flows (Image Slidedeck below). Then students plot and compare it to an unglaciated basin from the Nooksack River in Washington State.

 

Extra Resources: 360 Equivalent Images

  • Image Slide Deck: Module 1, Unit 4, Part 1c- Kangerlussuaq Glacier Basin System-Watson River Discharge (same as above)

What we learned:

  • Seasonal variability in stream discharge in a glaciated basin.
  • Seasonal variability in stream discharge in a less glaciated basin.
  • Differences in hydrology between glaciated and unglaciated basins.

Unit 5: System Response to Climate Change

In this unit, students transition to considering how a glacier basin system changes over multiple decades. Bringing together the weather, albedo, melt, and ice sheet surface elevation data, students assess how and why this Greenland glacier basin system has changed under contemporary climate change.

Part 1a:

Students break into groups of 4 and each student projects a single trend for the respective parameters (temperature, albedo, surface melt, and ice sheet elevation) over the next century, based on the modern rate of warming (1˚C/century). Then, using the individual projections for each component, the group discusses how their projection influences the other group members' parameters, making self-consistent and physically realistic adjustments to account for feedback loops and rates of change. Discuss as a class the different scenarios that evolved and how complicated the interactions between each can become.

Video: NASA-Greenland Ice Sheet: Three Futures

Part 1b:

After watching the video: Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5)

Break students into groups to read Hofer et al., 2020 or the pdf Hofer et al., 2020, NatComms, Greenland CMIP6 Projections.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 2.7MB Sep9 22).

  • Group reading objective: Identify two new findings that we have learned from the CMIP 6 results.
  • Discuss the findings as a class.

Part 2:

Generate a 'map of place' that shows differences between past and present glacier basin characteristics (albedo, temperature, ice surface elevation) over multiple years. Using both the timeseries and QGreenland maps, students develop a sense of how the region has changed over the past few decades.

  • Making a 'map of place'. Have students sketch out a cross-section view of the ice sheet, from the ice divide to the ice margin, with a section of ice-proximal land.  Label key glacier basin characteristics, including the accumulation zone, ELA, ablation zone, and pro-glacial region. As students progress through the data analysis and exercises, have them indicate the direction and magnitude of changes in albedo, air temperature, surface radiation (SW and LW), and elevation change, along the different zones of the ice sheet, over the past few decades.

Introduce Surface Elevation Change data from NASA Satellites and Airborne Ice Penetrating Radar

The following datasets and links are useful for answering questions from the Exercise.

What we learned:

  • Students understand how surface melt has varied over the multi-decadal record.
  • Students are able to articulate how and speculate on why surface albedo has changed over the multi-decadal record.

 


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