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Juneau Icefield study subject of Fireside Lecture
JUNEAU, Alaska,
Feb. 27, 2017–The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center is hosting a Fireside Lecture on Friday, March 3, presented by University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) faculty on their recent studies of Juneau Icefield
glaciers, assessing possible sources of black carbon that may be increasing the rate of melting. In 2016, UAS researchers initiated a research project to quantify black carbon concentrations in snow during spring (May) and summer (July). Snow samples were collected on Mendenhall, Matthes,
Taku and Gilkey Glaciers, and analyzed. “Black carbon is a product of incomplete combustion during the burning of biomass and fossil fuels,” said UAS Professor Sonia Nagorski. “When black carbon falls onto white snow and glaciers
it increases the solar energy absorbed by the ice which can increase melting of the glaciers.” Very little is known about the black carbon concentrations on Juneau Icefield glaciers. Sources in the Juneau area may be both local and regional, or even from faraway locations. Sources
are likely combustion products from urban, transportation and industrial activities in the Juneau urban area which lies to the west and south of the icefield. Studies in the Himalayan glacial regions have attributed increasing glacier melt to the deposition
of black carbon from industrial sources onto glacier surfaces. Professors Eran Hood and Sonia Nagorski will present the free lecture at 6:30 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. in the visitor center auditorium. Access to the center is limited by elevator replacement
construction to stairs or an outdoor ramp. Doors open at 6 p.m. Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center is open Friday-Sunday from 10-4 p.m. in winter. There is no charge from October-March. The center is closed in April. For more information, contact Laurie
Craig at 907-789-0097 or lcraig@xxxxxxxxx. The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center web page is at
http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/R10/Tongass/MGVC.
Collecting a surface snow sample on the Mendenhall Glacier
and black carbon samples in a snow pit on the Gilkey Glacier. Photo credit Eran Hood.
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