大象传媒

Project description
Motivation:
Glaciers advance and recede in response to climate change and record these changes by building distinctive sedimentary landforms including moraines (Mackintosh et al., 2017). Moraine indicate regional and local variability palaeoclimate conditions and the dynamic response of glaciers to climate change. Glaciers may expand and form moraines even in the absence of climate change, and so understanding the processes that result in moraine formation is important for the interpretation of glacial geology. In the Southern Alps of New Zealand, Late Quaternary glacier change was influenced by variations in the track of the Westerlies and modified by the interaction of this regional weather system with the high-relief topography of the Southern Alps. The Southern Alps are a young, tectonicallyactive mountain range, and high rates of rock uplift and erosion results in frequent hillslope mass movements that can affect glacier change (Hales and Roering, 2007; Shulmeister et al., 2009) The glacial history of the Southern Alps has been extensively studied, particularly in the central region (Denton et al., 2021) but much less is known about the areas to the north. This project will combine geomorphological mapping of moraine sequences and hillslope mass movements in the Tasman Mountains in the northern part of the Southern Alps. Geomorphological mapping will be undertaken using remotely sensed imagery and data, including the 1-m LiDAR terrain model and aerial photographs of the Nelson region. The student will have the opportunity to take part in fieldwork in the Southern Alps to carry out field mapping and collect samples to produce new geochronological data for moraines using terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide exposure-age dating.

Research questions:
1. When are moraine sequences in the northern Southern Alps a good record of paleoclimate change?
2. How does the magnitude and frequency of hillslope mass movements vary, and does this affect glacier change?
3. How have glaciers in the northern Southern Alps responded to Late Quaternary variability of the Westerlies?

Proposed course plan during the master's degree (60 ECTS)
贬酶蝉迟蝉别尘别蝉迟别谤:
GEOV324 Polar palaeoclimate (5 sp)
GEOV205 Geographical Information Systems: Theory and Practice (10 sp)
GEOV336 Field and Laboratory Course in Quarternary Geology (10 sp)
痴氓谤蝉别尘别蝉迟别谤:
GEOV328 Quaternary geochronology (10 sp)
GEOV316 Practical Skills in Remote Sensing and Spatial analysis (10 sp)
GEOG412-24S2: Alpine Environments at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand (15 sp)

Field-, lab- and analysis work
The project will use GIS for remote mapping, field-based geomorphological mapping and laboratory work to prepare cosmogenic nuclide samples. Familiarity with these methods is useful but not essential, as training and ongoing support will be provided. The student may have the opportunity to join ongoing fieldwork in the Southern Alps in 2025/2026, to carry out field mapping and sampling.