CCPO Seminar - Nov. 14

CCPO and ODU Resilience Collaborative

Fall 2016 Seminar

MONDAY, 14 November 2016

3:30 p.m., Conference Center

First Floor, IRB II

4211 Monarch Way

Web streaming link:

http://www.ccpo.odu.edu/seminar.html

or

http://vs.odu.edu/kvs/interface/?cid=201530_CCPOSeminarSeriesVS_96096

The next seminar will be presented by Dr. Carlos Moffat from the School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware.  Dr. Moffat’s research interests are in the areas of glacier-ocean interactions, buoyancy-driven flows, and coastal circulation.  His seminar will present results from a multi-year effort focused on the fjord system around the Patagonian Ice Fields, which aims to understand the magnitude, evolution, and impact of the ocean forcing on these glaciers.  Dr. Moffat’s interests are in the ocean’s role in causing the retreat of these glaciers. Understanding the glacier-ocean interactions and effects on melting processes will help improve projections of ice loss and sea-level rise. 

More information on Dr. Moffat’s research is available at:

http://www.carlosmoffat.com/

Dr. Moffat will be at CCPO on Monday.  Please contact Eileen Hofmann (hofmann@ccpo.odu.edu) if you would like to schedule time to talk with him.

Coffee and cookies are available prior to the seminar at 3:00 p.m.  Everyone is encouraged to attend the seminar. 

Title: The Ocean and Glacier Retreat in Patagonia

Abstract

Understanding the ocean's structure and circulation in the vicinity of tidewater glaciers is key to elucidate the role the ocean is playing in modulating loss of freshwater from the continents and to quantify the present rate and future evolution of sea level rise. Patagonia contains the largest temperate ice bodies in the Southern Hemisphere, and the vast majority of glaciers that form the Patagonian Ice Fields are currently retreating. Here, glaciological, meteorological, and oceanographic observations collected since 2010 in a fjord adjacent to Jorge Montt glacier, a rapidly retreating glacier in the Southern Patagonia Ice field, are used to explore key processes that explain the supply of warm water to the ice-ocean interface, the structure and evolution of the freshwater output from the glacier, and the overall impact that the ocean is playing in the retreat of these glaciers.

Biography

Dr. Carlos Moffat received a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Concepcion, Chile and a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from the MIT-WHOI Joint Program. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and is currently an assistant professor at the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware. His research interests include the study of glacier-ocean interactions in Patagonia and Antarctica, of river outflows, and of shelf dynamics in upwelling systems.

Posted By: Julie Morgan
Date: Thu Nov 10 10:22:52 EST 2016