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St. Olaf College physics professor receives new grant for glacier research

- kla -
August 30, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? Robert Jacobel, professor of physics at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., has been awarded a new grant from the National Science Foundation to support a three-year ice- and climate-related study in Sweden.

The grant of $206,837 provides funds for Jacobel and two students to perform two years of field research at the Tarfala Research Station in the mountains of arctic Sweden in 2001-?02. The award also supports a third year of work analyzing data acquired in the field.

Tarfala Research Station is located at the base of the Kebnakaisa massif, the highest point in Sweden. A number of glaciers flow from this area, and one of them, Storglaciaren, is one of the longest and best-studied glaciers in the world.

Jacobel and two St. Olaf students began work on the project this summer, traveling to Sweden to work with three scientists from Portland State University.

?It is a superb opportunity for us to work at a first-class facility, and to meet and work with other scientists and students studying the response of glaciers to climate change in this region,? Jacobel said.

Jacobel?s research is driven by the need to better understand how ice affects climate, and how glaciers respond to climate change. The data he collects will be used in models of climate change ? models that predict the response of the earth?s great ice masses to increased surface temperatures.

?The polar regions play a central role in the earth?s climate system because environmental processes control the major planetary energy distribution systems, including ocean circulation and the earth?s albedo ? the amount of solar radiation reflected back into space,? Jacobel said.

Jacobel?s research not only considers the current status of the ice and its predicted future, but aids in recovery of records of environmental conditions through earth?s long history. ?The deep ice is a fantastic archive, giving us information on climate in the past,? Jacobel noted.

The Sweden study will let Jacobel, his students and the Portland State University scientists better understand how glaciers store water and eventually deliver it to the glacier bed. The water beneath a glacier plays a crucial role in how the ice slides and moves. Scientists still don?t understand the progression of water from surface to bed of the glacier.

Jacobel uses a specialized ice-penetrating radar system to locate water stored in the glacier, searching for passages and cavities deep in the ice. When the radar identifies what seems to be a water passageway, the scientists use other tools to take a more detailed look. A hot-water drill equipped with a video camera probes the ice, allowing the team to see inside the glacier.

During their studies this summer at the Tarfala Research Station, Jacobel and his students worked with scientists from around the world, including Russia, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Germany and Switzerland. ?It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to see other scientists and students working on ice,? Jacobel said.

Jacobel heads a St. Olaf College ice and climate research group that also involves ongoing research in Antarctica and on the South Cascade Glacier in the state of Washington. For 14 years he has traveled to Antarctica to examine the fast-moving Antarctic ice ?streams? with his ice-penetrating radar. For the last two years he has participated with other American scientists from the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE), analyzing Antarctic ice cores for evidence of recent atmospheric and climate change.

Jacobel will continue to be one of a dozen principal investigators in the October-December Antarctic project, which this year will be staffed by St. Olaf physics post-doctoral associate Brian Welch. Jacobel will lead the Tarfala Research Station study again in summer 2002.

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 ?elite values in college education today,? and it leads the nation?s colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.