Upcoming ATLAS Speaker Series talks
Join us on Fridays for our guest speaker talks, featuring scientists and professionals who will be speaking on topics ranging from geology to climate change, urban planning to fluids, and more. Check back frequently for updates.
Kristof Van Assche and Monica Gruezmacher
Friday, April 5th - 12:00 to 13:00
Kristof Van Assche and Monica Gruezmacher analyze the challenges and possibilities of sustainability transitions, presenting the dilemmas facing the path to sustainable communities and societies, as well as proposing creative solutions. They deploy evolutionary governance theory as a conceptual framing for transition strategy, highlighting the importance of understanding governance and community strategy in any potential response to environmental crises. The presentation is based on a book
appearing this month [April]
Past Talks
Laurie Weston
Friday, September 15th - 12:00 to 13:00
Everyone is experiencing the challenge of timely integration and interpretation of masses of data. In the subsurface, dozens of seismic attributes carry subtle geological information that is not obvious with typical seismic interpretation methods. QI-Pro uses a unique visual logic approach for interactive investigation and utilization of multiple attributes to predict subsurface properties. This tool has been successfully used to reveal important subsurface details that improve decision making and results in various geological play types and objectives (oil and gas production, CCUS, mining, geothermal, time-lapse monitoring, aquifer mapping, etc.).
While originally designed for seismic and subsurface properties, QI-Pro is applicable in any spatial data environment where multiple measurements need to be assessed to classify and predict useful properties: land use and urban planning, fisheries, environmental assessments, and medical imaging to name a few.
Dr. Chris Spence
Friday, September 22nd - 12:00 to 13:00
Sediment-derived melts and the detrital products derived therefrom have been present in the geologic record since the Hadean Eon. However, it is often assumed that melts of (meta)sedimentary material represent small volumes of melt compared to other felsic melts such as those formed in arc settings. Nevertheless, constraining the mode and volume of sediment assimilation plays a fundamental role in our understanding of the interplay between Earth’s surface where sediments are formed and Earth’s depths where surface-derived materials are melted. Recent work has demonstrated that changes in sedimentary compositions through time are reflected in the composition of sediment-derived melts. This means any detrital mineral proxy used to constrain the volume of sediment-derived melts through time will be a moving target.
The clastic sedimentary record is also extremely diverse in its isotopic signatures and degree of maturity. This compositional diversity is reflected in sediment-derived melts that reflect specific isotopic features of various petrotectonic settings. Sediment-derived melts are present across the spectrum of orogenies from oceanic and continental arcs to continental collisions. Oceanic arc settings like the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and the Birimian Greenstone Belt record sediment-derived melts with elevated δ18O but depleted εHf. Collisional settings like the Himalayan and Pan-African Orogenies produce melts with elevated δ18O and enriched εHf. In contrast to the end-member oceanic arcs and continental collisions, long-lived continental arc systems yield dramatic swings in isotopic signatures during the oscillations of retreating and advancing phases of arc magmatism. Ophiolites also host sediment-derived granites intruding peridotite that carry isotopic signatures akin to biogenic sediments implying subduction and melting of deep marine sediment.
The mechanisms of sediment melting are also diverse with specific mineral proxies that can differentiate between fluid-present melting versus muscovite- and biotite-dehydration melting. The identification of the melt-producing mechanisms goes far beyond addressing petrologic minutiae but provides a clear context for deciphering the melt-reaction control, pressure-temperature conditions of melt generation, and compositional diversity of sediment-derived melts from the outcrop to the orogen scale.
Sediment-derived melts record plate tectonic-driven mass transfer and form a clear connection between evolving surface conditions and the deep Earth. These relatively low-volume granitoids play an important role in understanding the long-term evolution of both the plate tectonic processes that form them and the sedimentary systems that provide the fodder for melting.
Dr. Jennifer Nazinger
Friday, September 29th - 12:00 to 13:00
The winter river ice season makes managing Canada’s water resources especially challenging: destructive ice jam floods can occur, river flows often reach their annual minimum, and human and ecological uses compete for highly uncertain quantities of water. Furthermore, engineers and policymakers often borrow analytical approaches and technical tools from more temperate regions, which may not be valid for ice-covered waters. In this wide-ranging talk, Dr. Nafziger will provide an introduction to river ice processes and discuss the challenges of working with winter river datasets. Finally, she will provide an overview of some of the recent extreme ice jam flooding events in Alberta and the Northwest Territories and discuss the challenges in forecasting such events.
Marrian Warren
Friday, October 6th - 12:00 to 13:00
This presentation will showcase through several case studies how structural geology has impacted exploration and development in the WCSB, including in the basin area east of the Foothills. Initial examples will review the critical importance of carefully constructed structural cross sections in successful Foothills fold-thrust plays, and in their continuation eastward into the subsurface.
Discussion also will include examples of the interplay of extensional, compression and basement-rooted faults with both carbonate and clastic reservoir deposition in the Plains and Foothills. This has not always been fully appreciated during the earlier exploitation of the basin, but it has become increasingly important as traditional conventional stratigraphic plays have matured, and also as focus has shifted to unconventional reservoirs.
One of our goals is to include some of these concepts and supporting data in the new WCSB Atlas, now being created by volunteers for CEGA and planned for digital release in 2027 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of CEGA (CSPG).
We are involved in some of the chapters in the 2027 Atlas that will include discussion of structural
geology and tectonics at several scales. One chapter will present a consistently drawn suite of structural cross sections through the fold-thrust belt, from the US border to the Arctic Ocean, illustrating critical along-strike changes in stratigraphy, structural style and history. A second chapter aims to illustrate the Paleozoic deformation history over the entire WCSB, and a third effort will be to link the WCSB evolution and structure with tectonic processes through time at the plate boundaries to the west. This will change the previous Atlas emphasis from separate stratigraphic and structural approaches to a more holistic view which illustrates the linkages that exist between deformation and basin evolution and the depositional responses. This will require the creation of a suite of structural and chronostratigraphic cross-sections to illustrate the links that exist from the WCSB westwards into BC as far as the western limit of deformed rocks that belong to paleo North America but excluding the accreted terranes.
We would like to explore the possibility of including U of Alberta undergraduates in parts of this work via directed study in Spring 2024 or in other ways. We would also hope to make ourselves available for discussions with interested students on this or other topics on the day of the presentation.
Duane Froese
Friday, October 13th - 12:00 to 13:00
The Permafrost Archives Laboratory is a $4M multi-user facility funded by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Alberta Economic Development and Trade and the University of Alberta, and hosted within the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Along with the Canadian Ice Core Laboratory (CICL), PACS Lab represents an outstanding investment in cryospheric science and engineering at the University of Alberta, and the only facilities of their kind in Canada. In this presentation, we discuss the research infrastructure within the PACS Lab, including non-destructive imaging facilities for the characterization and analysis of permafrost materials (Industrial Computed Tomography and Multi-Sensor Core Logging), analytical facilities (water isotopes, particle size, Ph and conductivity), and clean labs for biogeochemical and ancient DNA subsampling and extractions. These labs support science and engineering research related to permafrost in Canada. A few major projects and their results are discussed. Probably of broader interest to members of EAS Department is the PACS Lab Industrial CT Scanner (Nikon XTH 225 ST) used both for permafrost and diverse non-permafrost applications in geoscience, biology and engineering. In contrast to medical CT scanning, which uses lower energy and generally of lower resolution, the Nikon CT is capable of up to 225 kV and 450 watts allowing penetration of larger objects of greater density with resolution of as little as a few microns. The CT is capable of holding objects up to 50 kg with diameters from a few mm to 40 cm with scan resolution being dependent on sample size. We present case studies in areas of paleontology and geoscience that have been completed in the lab from diamonds to 30,000 year old Arctic ground squirrel mummies.
Dr. Alberto Reyes
Friday, October 20th - 12:00 to 13:00
In this talk I will outline our recent work to resolve the age of Old Crow tephra, a critical and widespread marker bed that underpins the Late Quaternary chronology and stratigraphy in unglaciated Yukon/Alaska. Attempts to date this tephra using direct methods have frustrated geochronologists for forty years, most recently with the 2021 publication of zircon U-Pb dates that threatened to upend the entire Late Quaternary chronostratigraphic framework for this sub-continental region with world-class permafrost-preserved paleoenvironmental records. Because proximal marine sediments commonly contain reworked glass shards postdating the deposition of prominent tephra in nearby catchments, we turned to the marine sedimentary record to resolve the age of this key chronostratigraphic marker. We used electron-probe microanalysis and a machine-learning tephra identification routine on ~1900 detrital glass shards from 28 samples spanning 220–15 ka at Bering Sea IODP Site U1345. This core site was targeted because it has a well-constrained age model and receives terrigenous sediment from a broad region of Yukon/Alaska. We show that detrital glass from the Old Crow tephra appeared at the core site suddenly and at high concentration about 160,000 years ago. Detrital Old Crow tephra shards persist at high concentration for ~15,000 years, then are present in every subsequent analyzed sample as a background component of the detrital glass population. Our results provide new clarity on the age of this key tephra, upon which many associated paleoclimate, glacial history, and phylogeographic records rely. We also show that detrital terrigenous signals from the largest volcanic eruptions likely persist for many tens of thousands of years in adjacent marine settings, suggesting that our approach may be valuable for dating key tephra in other regions that are otherwise difficult to date by other direct methods.
Dr. Maija Raudsepp
Friday, October 27th - 12:00 to 13:00
Alkaline lakes are excellent environments to study the interplay between aqueous geochemistry and the precipitation of (Ca)-Mg carbonate minerals. While much research has been conducted to understand how (bio)geochemical processes induced carbonate precipitation, very little work has been completed on the role of crystallization pathway as a geochemical control. I will be presenting my research on the geochemistry and mineralogy of the Coorong Lakes, South Australia and the lakes of the Cariboo Plateau in the interior of British Columbia, as well as, the application of non-classical crystallization laboratory-based research to natural environments. Lakes and playas in the Cariboo Plateau constitute the world’s largest aerial extent of modern low temperature sedimentary magnesite (MgCO 3 ). Carbonate mineralogy is associated with lake water alkalinity. Very high magnesium calcite (VHMC; Ca 0.5 Mg 0.5 CO 3 ) precipitates in lakes with the highest alkalinities, magnesite precipitates in lakes with relatively moderate alkalinities and hydromagnesite [Mg₅(CO₃)₄(OH)₂·4H₂O] precipitates in lakes with the lower relative alkalinities. New models developed in the field of non-classical crystallization may help explain why alkalinity controls the formation of Mg carbonates in Cariboo Plateau lakes. Understanding carbonate precipitation is important for interpreting carbonate geochemistry as paleoenvironmental proxies and developing carbon mineralization as a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy.
Dr. Murray Gingras
Friday, November 3rd - 12:00 to 13:00
Intertidal flats are fascinating. Unlike many depositional settings, intertidal zones can be visited during low tides, and most people have walked on an intertidal flat at some time or another. In spite of their accessibility, and indeed our sedimentological familiarity with them, intertidal flat deposits are surprisingly difficult to identify in the rock record. The reason for this is largely due to insufficient models and recognition criteria for these sedimentologically variable settings. In particular, proposed facies models for intertidal flat deposits minimize or even disregard bioturbation styles and distributions in intertidal zones. Rather, sedimentological characteristics, primarily manifest as heterolithic bedding, are heavily relied upon as diagnostic indicators of intertidal flat deposits. Additionally, existing intertidal flat models tend to disregard the sedimentological variability that results from geographic considerations, such as position within a bay or estuary, proximity to a fluvial source or – thinking of a much larger scale – latitude (i.e. tropical versus temperate versus polar). Finally, facies models for intertidal deposits have decidedly favored the characterization of macrotidal and even megatidal settings, skewing the overall view of intertidal flat sedimentology.
This presentation overviews the existing models regarding the sedimentology of intertidal flat deposits, and discusses characteristic bioturbation distributions that should be included in intertidal facies models. The sedimentological and ichnological ranges of intertidal flat settings is discussed, and the challenges inherent in erecting more global intertidal facies models are outlined.
Dr. Noga Vaisblat
Friday, November 10th - 12:00 to 13:00
The Cambro-Ordovician hypersaline Deadwood and Winnipeg Formations in south-eastern Saskatchewan host both geothermal (Deep Earth) and CO2 storage (Aquistore) operations in close proximity (~20 km). Numerical flow models are routinely used to understand and/or predict fluid flow and fluid/rock interactions in the subsurface. However, little is known about the properties of the Winnipeg and Deadwood Formations in southern Saskatchewan or the way they may react to the injection of cold fluids, and modeling parameters are currently selected based on experience and reason, rather than on firm data. A better understanding of formation properties (porosity, permeability and relative permeability, pore size distribution, capillary pressure, as well as stresses-strain relationship and its effect on flow rate) is required to more accurately model fluids flow, assure the safety of an operation, and assist in tracking the advancement of the cold/CO2 plume.
In this study we present an advanced neural-net assisted reservoir evaluation workflow that integrates machine learning application with well logs and core analysis. A petrophysical model was produced using the software GAMLS-CO2, which uses a maximum likelihood adaptive neural system to generate a generalized fuzzy multilinear model from well logs. This model provides a regional stratigraphic framework and identifies seven rock-type end members within the Deadwood and Winnipeg Formations, and guided samples selection for routine and special core analysis as well as Thermal-Hydro-Mechanical testing under reservoir conditions.
The model was corroborated by core description, and the core analysis demonstrates that all rock type endmembers identified by the GAMLS-CO2 model correspond to sedimentological, petrophysical, and geomechanical end members. Our characterization of flow units is also supported by Field observations from spinner and neutron pulse logs, strengthening the validity of the neural net generated reservoir model.
Dr. Gordon Osinki
Friday, November 24th - 12:00 to 13:00
These are exciting times for Canada in terms of lunar exploration. It has been 51 years since humans last walked on the surface of the Moon. But we are going back. Following the success of Artemis I in late 2022, Artemis II is the next mission in the Artemis program and the precursor to sending humans back to the surface of the Moon. Scheduled to launch in late 2024, Artemis II will achieve several firsts: it will be the first time humans will fly in NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the first mission to take humans beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. Onboard this historic mission will be Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. While not identical in design, Artemis II aims to achieve what Apollo 8 did in 1968, which is to make sure everything works before the next mission, Artemis III, that will take humans back to the surface of the Moon. In another exciting first, Canada is leading its first ever planetary exploration mission, one that aims to send a rover to the south polar region of the Moon. During this talk I will discuss the scientific rationale for going back to the Moon, the geology training that I have been providing to Jeremy and the Artemis II crew, and the plans and preparations for Artemis III and the Canadian Lunar Rover Mission.
Dr. Corliss Sio
Friday, December 1st - 12:00 to 13:00
Mineral zoning and melt inclusions reveal the inner workings of volcanoes. For example, mineral zoning may be used to infer the timescales of magmatic processes. Melt inclusions, on the other hand, may record primary melt compositions and depths of entrapment. Though potentially valuable, interpreting these magmatic archives is far from straightforward. Similar patterns of mineral zoning can result from crystal growth or chemical diffusion. Melt inclusions may incorporate disequilibrium compositions arising from boundary layer formation. I will demonstrate how stable isotopes can reveal the nature of these magmatic archives, allowing appropriate crystals and melt inclusions to be identified for diffusion chronometry and geobarometry studies. Stable isotopes are powerful discriminators of equilibrium versus kinetic processes, adding a dimension to petrologic studies that yields conclusive interpretations.
Dr. Laura Gillard
Friday, December 8th - 12:00 to 13:00
Baffin Bay, a marginal sea, is located in the high Arctic and provides a gateway of Arctic Waters to the North Atlantic Ocean. However, this marginal sea is more than just a means for water mass export. Baffin Bay provides a life-giving cocktail to sustain many marine animals, which in turn sustains coastal communities. The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second largest storage of fresh ice on Earth and has many large marine-terminating glaciers discharging freshwater and icebergs into the ocean. As oceans warm, there is a potential to increase ocean-induced undercutting of marine-terminating glaciers which may have a strong control over the future of the ice sheet. How the water masses in Baffin Bay behave and change has large implications on the environment including glaciers, marine biology, and coastal communities. This talk will take a deep dive into Baffin Bay’s physical oceanography and tell the audience how a sea, defined as “marginal”, is anything but.
Dr. Martyn Unsworth
Friday, January 12th - 12:00 to 13:00
Geophysical exploration provides important information for resource exploration, studies of geohazards, and investigations into how the Earth works. Seismic exploration is the most widely used geophysical technique and is an invaluable tool for oil and gas exploration. However, no single geophysical technique can answer all questions about Earth structure. An alternative method uses low-frequency electromagnetic (EM) signals to image the electrical resistivity of the Earth. This rock property is sensitive to the presence of fluids and a number of economically important minerals. For more than a century, EM techniques have been applied in areas including hydrogeology, mineral exploration, and geothermal energy development. EM methods focused on near-surface exploration utilize signals generated with a transmitter. For deeper exploration it is most efficient to use magnetotellurics (MT) – an EM method that uses natural EM signals to image subsurface structure.
In this lecture, I will describe the physics of the MT method and outline its range of applications. This lecture will emphasize (1) how MT is now capable of working in 3-D to develop realistic models of subsurface resistivity (2) how MT is most effective when used in combination with other geophysical methods, and (3) introduce applications of societal relevance including include mineral exploration, volcanology, geothermal exploration, and tectonic studies.
Dr. Julian Brimelow
Friday, January 19th - 12:00 to 13:00
The escalating damage costs associated with hailstorms have resulted in a renaissance in hail research in recent years. In Canada, coordinated hail research is once again being undertaken following an almost 40-year hiatus since the Alberta Hail Project was dissolved in 1985. Following on the success of the Northern Tornado Project, formed in 2017, the Northern Hail Project (NHP) was formed in early 2022. Details on the rationale of the projects, as well as the missions, goals and project plans will be presented. Additionally, our experiences, lessons learned and preliminary results from two field seasons in Hail Alley (Alberta) will be shared. The NHP is not only an exciting opportunity to undertake ground-breaking research in Canada, but also an opportunity to school a new generation of scientists specializing in severe convective storms.
Dr. Levi Knapp
Friday, January 26th - 12:00 to 13:00
In November 2021, the Government of Alberta released the Renewing Alberta’s Mineral Future report -- a strategy and action plan for Alberta to better understand, characterize, and capitalize on its untapped mineral potential. The strategy leverages Alberta’s natural geological advantages and details six key areas to support and achieve Alberta’s vision, with the first key area to “increase public geoscience”. This strategy provided the Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) with the unique opportunity to initiate a massive investigation and data acquisition program. The program improved the utility of historical data through compilation and digitization, leveraged modern geophysical and remote sensing technologies to scan huge swathes of the surface and subsurface, ran modern lab analyses on extensive collections of existing public cores and samples, performed significant sample collection and mapping projects in strategic locations across the province, and developed public-facing interactive maps.
This program has led to:
the acquisition of one of the largest high-quality regional airborne geophysical surveys worldwide, covering ~511,500 km2 (Fig. 1), with additional acquisition ongoing,
new magnetotelluric data collection and modeling in Alberta’s “kimberlite corridor”,
satellite-based multispectral mineral mapping in NE and NW Alberta,
hyperspectral scanning of ~51,000 m of core supported by >75,000 spot XRF points,
completion of a till and stream sediment sampling program returning >1350 samples,
7000 lithogeochemical analyses,
703 X-ray diffraction analyses,
850 heavy mineral concentrate analyses,
4650 electron microprobe analyses,
4 weeks of field mapping and spectra collection on the Canadian Shield,
collection and geochemical analysis of 312 new brine samples from 309 hydrocarbon wells,
high-res photogrammetry of Devonian reef margin outcrops in the Rocky Mountains, as analogues to subsurface Li-brine reservoirs,
digitization of 329 historical mineral assessment reports.
This presentation will provide an overview of the data acquired thus far, some of the analyses that are underway, and insight into how we are leveraging online interactive platforms to make this new information and data more accessible to stakeholders.
Dr. Ben Rostron
Friday, February 2nd - 12:00 to 13:00
There is currently an enormous exploration interest in brine-hosted lithium from the Duperow/Leduc aquifer in Western Canada. Published concentrations of lithium up to 259 mg/L are found in southeast Saskatchewan, significantly higher than those currently being exploited further west in west central Saskatchewan and Alberta. Yet, the origin of this difference within a single formation has received little attention in the open literature. The question remains: what controls the distribution of lithium in subsurface brines? A second question is: why are there extreme variations in lithium concentrations mapped very close together?
An exploration and testing program was conducted in 2020-2022 to better understand the distribution of lithium in the Duperow aquifer in southeast Saskatchewan. First, a refined lithostratigraphy was developed subdividing the Duperow Formation into 24 mappable units across the area. Second, lithium concentration data were inserted into this refined lithostratigraphy. This led to the identification of widespread continuous zones with correlatable lithium concentrations across the area. Furthermore, putting multiple measurements from a single well (or nearby wells) in their correct stratigraphic position explains the origin of some of the large differences in concentration measurements from the same well: different zones in the Duperow aquifer in the same location can have different lithium concentrations. An exploration program followed, which included drilling one new well, re-completing a nearby well, and re-entering and deepening a third well.
In the first well, lithium concentrations from eight individual zones of the Duperow aquifer ranged from 48 to 173 mg/L. Three of the same individual zones were tested approximately 20 km away in the second well and results were between 53 and 170 mg/L. Zonal concentrations correlated between the wells, over a distance of approximately 20 km. These results support the newly-developed exploration model of a widespread layered distribution of lithium in the Duperow aquifer. The layered distribution of lithium was supported by the third well 7 km further north, albeit with slightly lower concentrations (up to 137 mg/L). However, the final story remains to be told: recent results from a series of wells drilled by a different operator 40 km further northeast have yielded concentrations as high as 259 mg/L. Further drilling is underway.
This talk will review this new type of brine-hosted lithium resource from southeast Saskatchewan and provide the latest public results from this active exploration play.
Dr. Matt Hardman
Friday, February 9th - 12:00 to 13:00
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is a non-profit educational and research institute with internship and postdoctoral research programs for young scholars. GIA also provides a variety of services to the public, including laboratory reports that document gemstone species, provenance, and treatment. These reports protect consumers from misrepresentation of gem materials in the market. However, the gemstone industry is dynamic: new deposits of natural gems are discovered through time, and stones grown and treated by laboratories are constantly changing. In this talk I will highlight several complex issues currently facing gemological laboratories.
Dr. Chris Herd
Friday, March 1st - 12:00 to 13:00
The NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover has been operating successfully within Jezero Crater, Mars, for three years as of February 18, 2024. In that time, the mission has provided new insights into the geology of the igneous crater floor, sedimentary deltaic, and carbonate-bearing rocks within the crater, deposited over 3.5 billion years ago as a river flowed into Jezero Crater. The mission has successfully collected 23 diverse and representative samples of rock, regolith and atmosphere. The mission is the first step in a multi-step and multi-agency goal of returning samples from Mars, with the ultimate aim of determining if life ever evolved outside of the Earth.
The talk will provide an overview of the mission goals, the instruments on board, an overview of the geology of the landing site and the samples collected thus far, and a preview of anticipated results from the mission as it continues exploring. Dr. Herd is a Returned Sample Science (RSS) Participating Scientist on the mission, and represents RSS to the Project Science Group—the leadership council that helps define and refine the mission's science goals and strategies.
Diana Tirlea
Friday, March 8th - 12:00 to 13:00
After the Last Glacial Maximum, plants, animals and people started to migrate into Alberta, mainly from the south/southeast and west. Over the last 12 ka years (Holocene), plant and animal species have been fairly stable; however, their distributions, abundances, and assemblages have changed. This talk will discuss some of the collections we have at the museum to support palaeoenvironmental studies, and highlight some projects completed here at the museum in collaborations with other institutions.
Dr. Jake Wegmann
Friday, March 15th - 12:00 to 13:00
In recent years, cities throughout North America such as Edmonton have moved to undo single-family zoning across large swathes of their land with a speed that would have startled many observers even just a half decade ago. The unshakeable assumption of the past century in most cities, suburbs, and towns in Canada and the United States, that a supermajority of land would be given over to the most land-intensive form of housing, freestanding single-family houses, is rapidly receding. Even so, there is a great deal of uncertainty as to what vision for the future communities across the continent should embrace for their residential neighbourhoods. Secondary suites? Community land trusts? Missing middle housing? Local retail shops? Intensive urbanization? In this ATLAS talk, Jake Wegmann will explore the range of possibilities for what cities like Edmonton should expect and consider in the coming decades, using examples drawn from throughout the US and Canada.
Andrew Hamilton
Friday, March 20th - 12:00 to 13:00
Water. One of the most fascinating substances in the universe. In this talk I’ll review some basic concepts in fluid mechanics to build an understanding of the forces and processes that impact the motion and properties of water. We’ll use this knowledge to investigate those settings where temperatures drop, such as at high latitudes, and water can co-exist in its liquid and solid forms, specifically as seawater and glacial ice. The talk will discuss topics including gravity, boundaries, stratification, transport, and melting at the ice-ocean interface, and provide some intriguing real-world examples of these processes at work. We’ll discuss some on-going research projects that aim to better understand the feedback mechanisms between glaciers and oceans in a warming climate, and touch on the curiosity that propels science forward.