Unit information: Ice and Ocean in the Global Carbon Cycle in 2018/19

Unit name	Ice and Ocean in the Global Carbon Cycle
Unit code	GEOG30014
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Professor. Anesio
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	Available to year-three Geography and year- four Geography with Study Aboard/Continental Europe students only.
School/department	School of Geographical Sciences
Faculty	Faculty of Science

Description including Unit Aims

The unit aims to give students a full understanding of the major biogeochemical and microbiological processes that prevail in ice sheets and oceans, with an emphasis on wider global impacts and the links between ice to the surface of oceans and from the surface to the bottom of the oceans. The initial part of the course will cover elements of microbiology and how knowledge of microbial diversity can be useful to the understanding of biogeochemical processes. In particular, it considers the relatively recent idea that ice sheets and the cryosphere more generally can be considered as a “biome”. Thereafter, the unit includes topics such as the impact of future climate change on ice sheet delivery of nutrients to the oceans, alongside implications of climate warming for ice-sheet ecosystems and ocean biogeochemical cycles. The Ocean component will include description of the solubility pump and biological pump, global estimates, controlling factors and ocean basin differences (e.g. comparing North Atlantic, Southern Ocean and subtropical gyres), ocean carbonate system, role for ecosystem functioning and services, climate impact (loss, adaptation), marine sediments in global carbon cycle, recent past and future ocean carbon cycle and the ocean oxygen cycle.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of this Unit students should be able to:

1. Apply an earth systems science approach within any environmental context
2. To use a spreadsheet package to perform advanced databases of phylogenetic information to assess what types of microbes are present beneath glacier and ice sheet environments and what is their function. They will also be able to relate this to key in situ biogeochemical processes
3. Be able to think critically and formulate ideas about the functioning of an environmental system using a field datasets
4. Appreciate the limitations and assumptions made in inferring environmental processes from a field and numerical modelling datasetseld datase
5. Demonstrate an in depth understanding of hydrological biogeochemical and physical processes operating in a glacier system within ice sheets, together with interactions with other components of the Earth system

The following transferable skills are developed in this Unit:

• Numeracy
• Geochemical calculations
• Research design and techniques
• Analytical skills and problem solving
• Computer literacy.
• Critical evaluation of literary sources

Teaching Information

Lectures & practical sessions

Assessment Information

Take-home exam at the end of the teaching block (75%) [ILOs 1 and 3-5]

Project Report (25%) (circa. 3000 words or 3 sides of A4, 11-point Arial, single-spaced, 2cm margins) [ILOs 1-5]

Reading and References

Essential:

Gaidos, E. et al. (2009), An oligarchic microbial assemblage in the anoxic bottom waters of a volcanic subglacial lake, ISME J, 3: 486-497.

Wadham, J. L., M. Tranter, M. Skidmore, A. J. Hodson, J. Priscu, W. B. Lyons, M. Sharp, P. Wynn, and M. Jackson (2010), Biogeochemical weathering under ice: Size matters, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 24(3), GB3025.

Wadham, J. L., M. Tranter, S. Tulaczyk, and M. Sharp (2008), Subglacial methanogenesis: A potential climatic amplifier?, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 22(2), GB2021.

Further Reading:

Further Reading:
Siegert, M. J., M. Tranter, J. C. Ellis-Evans, J. C. Priscu, and W. B. Lyons (2003), The hydrochemistry of Lake Vostok and the potential for life in Antarctic subglacial lakes, Hydrol Process, 17(4), 795-814.