Bering Glacier Undergraduate Student Research

For the past four summer field seasons (2001-2004), the University of Michigan and Altarum Institute, in collaboration with BLM, have formed an educational partnership to expose young college engineering and science students to the rigors of scientific investigation in remote locations. The Bering Glacier of southeastern Alaska has served as an ideal and unique location from which to accomplish this goal. The Bering Glacier Field Camp, operated by the Bureau of Land Management, Alaska provides a safe, logistically well supported base of operation supporting an interdisciplinary cadre of scientists and engineers all working to better understand the complex interactions of the Bering Glacier, its surrounding watershed and its interaction with the Pacific Ocean.

Through this unique program between 3 and 4 university students per year have been supported to acquire, analyze and report upon data pertinent to the understanding of the Bering Glacier System. These field observations include:

• Observations of the ice such as ablation, thickness, stability, movement, etc.
• Vegetation studies and mapping of local flora
• Water properties of Vitus, Berg, and other Bering Glacier lakes
• Paleontology and the study of the fossils in glacial outwash areas
• Geological studies
• Seal population studies
• Fish population studies
• Remote sensing and mapping of the glacier

In particular, the research specifically deals with “Saltwater Intrusion and its Effects on Glacial Lake Ecosystem Dynamics:

• Focus: The existence of a fresh and saltwater exchange in Vitus Lake.
• Hypothesis: Water from the Gulf of Alaska travels up the Seal River during periods of high ocean tides or storm surge and low freshwater input from the glacier
• Purpose: Perform a hydrological analysis to explain the presence of saltwater in Vitus Lake
• Method: Includes lake volume calculations, salinity profile analysis, field data collection, and sea level climatology

The Importance of Our Research:

• To advance the understanding of how global climate change is affecting this unique coastal ecosystem
• Understanding of the delicate balance in Vitus Lake can provide insight into such effects in other sensitive tidewater areas, subject to similar environmental stresses.