Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 05/06/2011 - 10:48
Forums
Glacial Movement and Seismicity

Hi Mr. Lampert! Sorry I haven't been at class lately. My grandmother is currently in critial condition at the hospital, and my ffamily and I have been vising her because we are told she doesn't have very much time to live.

Some questions I had (and porbably have already been asked) are {since I haven't really been in class]:

-How big/tall is the glacier you are researching?

-Is the glacier melting? If so, at how fast of a rate?

-Does the glacier move/shift around? How far and in what direction? Also, why does it move around?

-How much do you think/estimate the weight of the glacier?

Sat, 05/07/2011 - 08:03

Michael Lampert

I am very glad you are spending time with your grandmother, my best wishes in this difficult time.the glacier is several miles long and about a quarter of a mile wide. all glaciers melt. this is pretty even right now, the mass balance is about zero, but it fluctuates. the mass of that much ice I have not calculated, it is something for students to do.. the height is about 600 feet.
take care! mr l
inal Message -----
From: webmaster@polartrec.com
To:
mlampert@polartrec.com
Sent: Fri, 06 May 2011 11:03:06 -0800
Subject:
[PolarTREC] Lampert's 6th Period Glacier Question(s)

Mon, 05/16/2011 - 11:45

Anonymous

Hi again Mr. Lampert!I forgot to say that Chris and I (Holly) [Period 6] are the one's answering these questions.
Here are some more for the classes I've missed and Chris and I did together:
- If you were to take part of the glacier (like chip it off) and put it under a microscope, what might you see? (Compared to regular tap water)
- Are glaciers composed of just ice? Or are there other materials within the galcier itself?
- Do any animals live underneath/around/on top of the glacier?
- If you were to convert the entire glacier into H2O how much water would there be?
- Since you have been researching and analyzing the glacier, do you think that has disturbed the glacier at all?

Mon, 05/23/2011 - 10:19

Michael Lampert

great questions. they do disturb the glacier on purpose by pumping water under it to make it slide. and you would see crystalline patterns in the ice under a polarizing scope... I am not sure at this pressure what differences there would be with regular ice,, that is a very good question... there is sediment mixed into the ice that changes its properties somewhat...there are at least 2 million tons of water here.. likely more. there is a farm at the bottom of the glacier, lots of moose around.