European Geosciences Union
Division on Cryospheric Sciences
President: Carleen Tijm-Reijmer
(cr@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Nanna B. Karlsson
(nbk@geus.dk)
The Cryosphere are those parts of the Earth and other planetary bodies that are subject to prolonged periods of temperatures below the freezing point of water. These include glaciers, frozen ground, sea ice, snow and ice. One of the main aims of the EGU Division on Cryospheric Sciences is to facilitate the exchange of information within the science community. It does so by organizing series of sessions at the annual EGU assembly, and through the publishing of the open-access journal `The Cryosphere’. The division awards the Julia and Johannes Weertman medal for outstanding contributions to the science of the cryosphere.
The 2022 Julia and Johannes Weertman Medal is awarded to Regine Hock for outstanding scientific achievements on the study of glacier mass balance and immense service to the global cryospheric community.
The 2022 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Romain Millan for contributions to cryospheric sciences through the development of new methods to map ocean and subglacial topography, and methods to quantify dynamic changes in flowing ice.
The 2021 Julia and Johannes Weertman Medal is awarded to Martyn Tranter for his outstanding fundamental contributions in the innovative and emerging field of glacial biogeochemistry, leading to the paradigm shift in recognizing bio-albedo effects.
The 2021 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Christine L. Batchelor for her contributions to cryospheric sciences by her studies on glacial history and palaeo-ice sheet reconstructions.
The 2021 Virtual Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (vOSPP) Award is awarded to Calvin Beck Assessing the time-step dependency of calculating supraglacial debris thermal diffusivity from vertical temperature profiles
The 2021 Virtual Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (vOSPP) Award is awarded to Erik Loebel Automated extraction of calving front locations from multi-spectral satellite imagery using deep learning: methodology and application to Greenland outlet glaciers
The 2021 Virtual Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (vOSPP) Award is awarded to Linda Thielke Thermal sea ice classification during the MOSAiC expedition
There has been considerable disagreement amongst researchers concerning the extent of South Georgia’s ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The sub-Antarctic islands (those below the polar front) may have been completely glaciated during previous glacials, and the last largest extent of the South Georgia ice sheet was during the LGM, about 21,000 years ago. But glaciologists don’t agree on the exact size of the ice sheet at that time. There are three main hypotheses: the aptly named big …
In this week’s blog, Levan Tielidze tells us about the new glacier history from the Southern Alps of New Zealand, an important piece of information to better understand the climatic history of Earth during the Quaternary, the current geologic period. Quaternary glaciations Geochronological dating of glacial moraines is useful for determining the extent and timing of past glaciation and for reconstructing the magnitude and rate of past climate changes. This is essential to reveal the climatic history of Earth. Late …
On 04 December 2021, only a handful of people in Antarctica were fortunate enough to experience a total eclipse. As well as spectacular views—including a brief window of totality that darkened the midnight sun for 2 minutes—this phenomenon is known to affect the flow of energy between the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the ionosphere. Because eclipses in Antarctica only happen once every ~20 years, space scientists were eager to use this rare opportunity to investigate how eclipses affect the …
The summer of 2022 is shaping up to be a perfect storm for Alpine glaciers. By a strange coincidence, all the factors that could adversely affect glacial dynamics seem to have come into agreement. Let’s find out why. What controls the behavior of Alpine glaciers? Snow, temperature, weather conditions and the properties of snow and ice. These are the most important factors governing the life of a glacier. They can all vary, leading to favorable conditions for snow and ice …
In the July issue of The Loupe, scientists share insights and learnings from diverse ecosystems under threat today. Researchers from Northwestern University have developed a physics-based numerical model to predict areas susceptible to landslides, Savanna conservationist Abraham Dabengwa tells us of his work in grassland biomes where fires, large herbivores, and humans are involved in the development and maintenance of these ecosystems, and scientists investigate the emergence of new seasons created by anthropogenic effects on our planet.
Also in this issue: EGU’s GeoPolicy blog highlights the Competence Framework ‘Science for Policy’ for researchers developed by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC). Also apply to the EGU Policy Pairing scheme that invites researchers to spend a week in Brussels with a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).