Research
What lies beneath Alaska’s glaciers?
Professors Erasmus Oware and Kristin Poinar spent two weeks on the Juneau Icefield in southeast Alaska using transient electromagnetics (TEM) and seismoelectric (SE) geophysics to find out what lies beneath Alaska’s glaciers. Both methods penetrated through hundreds of meters of glacier ice and meltwater and returned signals from the glacier bed. Preliminary results suggest that at least a hundred meters of wet sediments lie under the two field areas, which are cirque glaciers adjacent to larger, fast-flowing ice "highways." Graduate student Jeremy Stock, BS 2018, MS 2020, assisted with the data collection. The team presented their findings at the 2019 AGU Fall meeting.
(Left) Professor Erasmus Oware and (Right) professor Kristin Poinar
From left to right: Professor Erasmus Oware, Diana Castro, and Professor Kristin Poinar at Taku Glacier, Juneau Icefield, Alaska.