Multiple Session Announcements and Calls for Abstracts - EGU General Assembly

Date

23 November 2011

Multiple Session Announcements and Calls for Abstracts
European Geoscience Union General Assembly
22-27 April 2012
Vienna, Austria

Abstract submission deadline for all sessions:
Tuesday, 17 January 2012

BG1.7 - Terrestrial Organic Matter Dynamics During Land-Ocean
Transport in the Arctic
CL1.3 - Polar Continental Margins and Fjords - Glacial and
Climatic Evolution in the Cenozoic
CL4.2 - Atlantic-Arctic Gateways: Interglacial, Modern and Future
Processes and Environments
CR9.20 - Interactions Among Biology, Structure, and Processes in
Sea-Ice

BG1.7 - Terrestrial Organic Matter Dynamics During Land-Ocean
Transport in the Arctic

Organizers of Session BG1.7, "Terrestrial Organic Matter Dynamics During
Land-Ocean Transport in the Arctic," announce a call for abstracts. The
session will be convened at the European Geoscience Union (EGU) General
Assembly, 22-27 April 2012 in Vienna, Austria.

Our understanding of land-ocean fluxes of terrestrial organic matter
(terr-OM), and of processes controlling the fate of this material in
arctic coastal zones has increased dramatically over recent years.
Organic matter in the Arctic has been shown to be far more reactive and
labile than previously expected, with multiple source and removal
pathways in both the dissolved and particulate forms. Sources of terr-OM
include freshwater supply via the great arctic rivers as well as coastal
degradation through thaw-collapse and erosion, of which the latter is
still poorly quantified. Rapid climate change throughout the Arctic is
likely to remobilize frozen carbon pools, currently holding more than
twice the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. At the same time, it could
significantly modify the composition of terr-OM, which will consequently
affect its turnover and fate in the Arctic Ocean.

Organizers invite contributions on all aspects of arctic and sub-arctic
OM biogeochemistry, particularly those interested in the nature,
dynamics, and degradation of terr-OM in coastal and freshwater systems.
Studies that characterize terr-OM using any range of techniques,
including molecular as well as bulk DOM and POM characterization (e.g.
optical, isotopes and biomarkers), are welcome.

The abstract submission deadline for this and all other sessions is
Tuesday, 17 January 2012 at midnight CET. To submit an abstract, please
log in or create an account at:
https://administrator.copernicus.org/authentication.php.

For further information, please contact:
Jorien Vonk
Email: jorien.vonk [at] erdw.ethz.ch

CL1.3 - Polar Continental Margins and Fjords - Glacial and
Climatic Evolution in the Cenozoic

Organizers of Session CL1.3, "Polar Continental Margins and Fjords -
Glacial and Climatic Evolution in the Cenozoic," announce a call for
abstracts. The session will be convened at the European Geoscience Union
(EGU) General Assembly, 22-27 April 2012 in Vienna, Austria.

Over the last decade there has been an increased scientific activity on
glaciated continental margins due to the availability of new datasets
such as high-resolution swath bathymetry, 3-D seismic data, and long
cores including some of the more recent IODP drillings.

Arctic ice sheets are inferred to have evolved since Miocene but new
results from ODP and IODP drillings show sea ice and continental ice
during the Eocene and Oligocene. Antarctica has supported major ice
sheets since the Oligocene. Variations in the size and extent of these
ice sheets resulted from major variations in global climate, and had
implications for sea-level, biodiversity, and oceanic and atmospheric
circulation besides climate itself. Yet, there is a paucity of Cenozoic
Antarctic and arctic outcrops and difficult access to stratigraphic
records has limited understanding of the timing and scale of dynamic and
stable behavior of the ice sheets. During the last two decades, studies
of long sedimentary sequences drilled in and around Antarctica have led
to significant advances in the understanding of the evolution of the
Antarctic continent (climate, tectonic, etc.), now complimented by
recent ocean drilling at the Wilkes Land margin (IODP 318).

Marginal marine environments such as fjords act as natural sediment
traps and typically have high sediment accumulation rates, providing the
potential for high-resolution palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental
studies on decadal to centennial timescales and presenting a unique
opportunity to study land-ocean interactions.

The aim of this session is to bring together researchers working on
northern and southern high-latitude margins, to investigate the many
orders and scales of variations of the ice sheets, climate and
tectonics, sedimentary processes, physical oceanography, sedimentology,
geophysics, and palaeo-biology/ecology.

For further information, please contact:
Jan Sverre Laberg
Email: Jan.Laberg [at] uit.no

CL4.2 - Atlantic-Arctic Gateways: Interglacial, Modern and Future
Processes and Environments

Organizers of Session CL4.2, "Atlantic-Arctic Gateways: Interglacial,
Modern and Future Processes and Environments," announce a call for
abstracts. The session will be convened at the European Geoscience Union
(EGU) General Assembly, 22-27 April 2012 in Vienna, Austria.

Recent changes in meridional transfer of ocean heat to the Arctic Ocean
are considered some of the most important factors contributing to the
present polar amplification of global warming. Water mass exchanges
between the Arctic and the North Atlantic take place in Fram Strait and
the Barents Sea, and are intricately connected with atmospheric and
cryospheric processes at play in this region.

Organizers invite contributions based on paleo-proxies and instrumental
data, as well as modeling experiment dealing with Interglacials
(including Holocene), modern and future dynamics of ocean circulation,
and environmental changes in the vicinity of these Arctic-Atlantic
gateways. This session is sponsored by the FP7 Initial Training Network,
"The Changing Arctic and Subarctic Environment (CASE)."

For further information, please contact:
Husum Katrine
Email: katrine.husum [at] uit.no

CR9.20 - Interactions Among Biology, Structure, and Processes in
Sea-Ice

Organizers of Session CR9.20, "Interactions Among Biology, Structure,
and Processes in Sea-Ice," announce a call for abstracts. The session
will be convened at the European Geoscience Union (EGU) General
Assembly, 22-27 April 2012 in Vienna, Austria.

Abiotic processes like sea-ice formation and consolidation, brine and
nutrient dynamics, and seasonal ice melt, together with factors such as
brine-channels structure, temperature, and salinity, shape the
biological communities within the ice. Organisms have developed a series
of mechanisms to cope with these conditions, of which the production of
exopolymeric substances and antifreeze proteins are some examples.
However, biological activity is in turn shaping its environment.
Physical properties like sea-ice microstructure, porosity, and
permeability are influenced by biology. The presence of organisms also
affects chemical processes within ice.

Organizers encourage the submission of contributions regarding sea-ice
biology and physical properties, as well as biological and chemical
processes within the ice and in ice-related environments, with a focus
on the interaction among them. The session welcomes contributions about
sea-ice and sea ice-influenced waters.

For further information, please contact:
Maddalena Bayer
Email: Maddalena.Bayer [at] awi.de