Call for Abstracts
American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2005 Fall Meeting
Session U 08: Changes in the Arctic Freshwater System: Identification,
Attribution, and Impacts at Local to Global Scales
5-9 December 2005
San Francisco, California
Abstract Submission Deadline: Thursday, 8 September 2005
For further information on the AGU 2005 Fall Meeting, please go to:
http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm05/
Dear Colleague,
We would like to draw your attention to the following special session at
this year's AGU Fall Meeting:
U 08: Changes in the Arctic Freshwater System: Identification,
Attribution, and Impacts at Local to Global Scales
Session Description:
Stocks and fluxes of freshwater critically influence the coupled
physical, chemical, biological, and cultural components of ecosystems at
local, regional, and global scales. Changes in the freshwater cycle are
therefore relevant to diverse topics such as drinking water
availability, erosion, mineral weathering, distribution of vegetation,
carbon storage in soils, ocean circulation, and climate. Given the
recent high rate of change in the arctic climate system, quantifying
changes within the freshwater cycle and understanding the consequences
to the broader physical/chemical/biological/cultural system is complex,
often crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries. Examples of
cross-disciplinary problems related to changes in the arctic freshwater
system include (i) identifying the extent to which changes in permafrost
thaw depth and soil moisture may alter plant distribution and carbon
storage in soils, (ii) understanding how melting of ice stocks on land
(i.e. freshwater in permafrost, the Greenland ice sheet, smaller ice
caps and glaciers) impact human settlements and infrastructure through
processes such as talik formation and sea-level rise, (iii)
understanding how melting and redistribution of sea-ice impacts human
settlements and infrastructure through affects on coastal erosion rates,
shipping, fishing and hunting, and (iv) evaluating to what extent
increased exports of freshwater from the Arctic Ocean could alter
large-scale ocean circulation and climate patterns. Potential sources of
freshwater for increased export from the Arctic Ocean include increased
precipitation (on the ocean surface and as runoff from the surrounding
watershed) in addition to water from melting sea-ice and ice stocks on
land.
Presentations are solicited that focus on identification, attribution,
and/or impacts of changes in the arctic freshwater system at local to
global scales, including paleo studies, contemporary studies, and
modeling of future scenarios which address both biophysical and
sociocultural components. This session provides a forum for bringing
together work from large coordinated efforts such as the Freshwater
Initiative (FWI), Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Fluxes program (ASOF), and
Study of Environmental Arctic Change program (SEARCH) as well as many
other related projects. Contributions to this session will be considered
as subject matter for a special journal issue planned for late 2006 in
preparation for the International Polar Year (IPY). Presenters are
encouraged but not required to contribute to the special issue.
Conveners:
Jim McClelland
The Ecosystems Center
Marine Biological Laboratory
7 MBL Street
Woods Hole, MA 02543
Phone: 508-289-7742
E-mail: jmcclelland [at] mbl.edu
Lilian Alessa
Resiliency and Adaptive Management Group
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
Phone: 907-786-1507
E-mail: afla [at] uaa.alaska.edu
Richard Moritz
Applied Physics Laboratory
University of Washington
1013 NE 40th Street
Seattle, WA 98105-6698
Phone: 206-543-8023
E-mail: dickm [at] apl.washington.edu
Eric Wood
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Phone: 609-258-4675
E-mail: efwood [at] princeton.edu