Fieldwork

Each Fire will be undertaking different field research projects. These projects and their Science Leaders are outlined below:

Pro-glacial hydrology and sediment transport
Prof Tim Stott
This project aims to monitor suspended sediment transport, river discharge and air temperature in the pro-glacial zone of a suitable glacier around the Tasermiut fjord (eg. Uiluit Kua, Sermitsiag or Itivdlerssuaq). It extends work carried out by Tim on the 1998 BSES expedition in NE Greenland. Young explorers will undertake flow measurements, river surveys, 24-hr sampling programmes and sample processing. The 1998 results were published in two scientific journals and the same is hoped for 2009.

Social Sciences
Dr Kris von Wald
The social sciences fire will give young explorers an opportunity to engage in designing and developing an enquiry about the experiences of expedition participants while they are on expedition. YE’s will decide what questions they find interesting and explore different methods of answering those questions. The framework may include an exploration of their individual experiences, the experiences of their fires, the experiences across fires, and the experiences of fire/expedition leaders. They will learn research skills such as interview techniques and observational skills; creative writing, storytelling and case study approaches; gathering and representing data using all of their senses and accommodating different learning styles.

Glaciology
Dr Anne-Marie Nuttall
The glaciology fire will tackle questions that are highly relevant to current concerns about climate change. An ongoing project will monitor melt rates on the surface of the Sermitsiaq glacier, and analyse how these are affected by air temperature, humidity and other meteorological factors. Flow rates of the glacier will be surveyed to see if the glacier moves faster at times when more meltwater is produced. This positive feedback mechanism may lead to substantial acceleration of large areas of the Greenland Ice Sheet (and subsequent sea level rise) and is the subject of much current research. Studying the sediments in front of the glacier will give some insight into rates and directions of its ongoing retreat.

Geology
Dr Siobhán Power
We will start off by looking at the broad geology and landscape around the Tasermiut fjord, SW Greenland. The young explorers will map the geological and the geomorphological features of the region and look at how the two relate to each other. They will then be able to focus on more specific projects such as finding an origin for the sediments in the rivers and on the glaciers.