Management of cold environments

elective courses

Classroom

The lecture content includes information about permafrost occurrence, structure and functioning; thermokarst processes; engineering problems and solutions used in permafrost regions; industrial expansion circum-polar regions; functioning of glaciers and glacial hazards (glacial surges, avalanches, outbursts); polar bases and scientific programmes; indigenous people of the Arctic, pollution of the Arctic.

The lecture refers to knowledge in fields of: spatial managing, glaciology, geomorphology, geoecology, hydrology, climatology, ethnography and building engineering.

Following issues will be addressed during the lecture:

 Permafrost: distribution and types, methods of determining its thickness, thermal profiles, active layer, frost heave and thaw settlement, thermokarst processes; 3h

 Engineering solutions used in construction of houses, roads, rail-roads, air strips, pipelines on permafrost – examples from Siberia, Tibet, Alaska, Canada, Spitsbergen; 4h

 Industrial expansion in circum-polar regions; 1h

 Mountain glaciers and ice-caps: distribution, changing mass balance, history of glaciations, contemporary rate of deglaciation, glaciological threats: surges, ice avalanches, glacier outbursts (jökulhlaups); 6h

 High-mountain infrastructure (touristic, communication, industry); 2h

 Arctic Ocean sea-ice: rate of ice melting, territorial disputes over access to mineral deposits, industrial expansion in the Arctic – chances and threats; 4h

 Contemporary polar bases and scientific programmes – examples from Spitsbergen, Greenland and the Antarctic; 4h

 Indigenous people of the Arctic, ethnic groups, life in the north, political organisations, struggle for land ownership; 2 h

 Pollution of the polar areas – reasons and effects; 4h

• Washburn, A.L. 1973. Periglacial processes and environments. Arnold, Londyn.

• Armstrong, T., Rogers, G., Rowley, G. 1978. The Circumpolar North: A Political and Economic Geography of the Arctic and Sub-Arctic. Methuen & Co Ltd, Londyn.

• French. H. 1996. The Periglacial Environment. Longman, Harlow.

• Benn, D.I., Evans, D.J.A. 1998. Glaciers and Glaciation. Arnold, Londyn.

• Polar Press Clips, National Science Foundation

http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/detect/index.shtml

http://maps.grida.no/arctic/

http://www.arcticpeoples.org/

http://www.aina.ucalgary.ca/cpc/

The outcomes of the subjects includes:

KNOWLEDGE OF

 permafrost: distribution and types, its structure and thermal pattern, thermokarst processes

 selected examples of infrastructure on in permafrost regions

 engineering problems (and mitigations) rising from freeze-thaw processes in the ground

 mountain glaciers structure and functioning

 glacial hazards (surges, ice avalanches, glacier outbursts)

 examples of high-mountain infrastructure (touristic, communication, industry)

 Arctic Ocean sea-ice issues (rate of ice melting, territorial disputes)

 examples of contemporary polar bases and scientific programmes

 settlement history and ethnography of the Arctic

 elementary knowledge of pollution issues

ABILITY TO

 locate permafrost regions on the map and assess permafrost thickness and character

 forecast permafrost reaction to climate warming

 foresee hazards to infrastructure resulting from freeze-thaw processes and assess methods of mitigation of construction failures

 foresee mountain glacial hazards

 find information about circum-polar regions

ATTITUDE

 to acknowledge specific conditions of managing cold regions (circum-polar and high-mountain)

 to acknowledge importance of climate warming for geographical environments of cold regions

Summative assessment in a form of an essay on one of the issues referred to during the lecture.

The grade from the essay constitutes 50% of the final grade, attendance - another 50%.

Unjustificed absence on 8 lectures results in failure of the subject.

The best grade (5) is given in case of high attendance (max 2 unjustified absences) and the essay which significantly broadens the lecture content.

It is possible to pass a re-sit session on the same terms.