Master Thesis Supervisors: Julien Seguinot Martin Margold Numerical modelling of Transbaikalian mountain glaciations in Siberia The Kodar Mountains (57°N, 118°E) and adjacent ranges located east of Lake Baikal currently host only small cirque glaciers confined to their highest parts. Although the region currently expe- riences a cold continental climate with little winter precipitation, this has likely not always been the case. Indeed, massive moraine complexes and an expansive network of U-shaped valleys indicate that the region has previously hosted much larger glaciers than today [1, 3]. During the Last Glacial Maximum, glaciers from the Kodar Mountains barred the course of the Vitim river, forming a 3000 km³ ice-dammed lake (30 times the volume of Lake Geneva), whose catastrophic drainage caused one of the largest glacial outburst floods documented in Earth’s history [2]. The goal of this project is to use the 103 numerical, open-source, Parallel Ice Sheet 8.5 K 100 % Model [PISM, 4, www.pism-docs.org], to sim- ) ulate glaciation of the Transbaikalian Moun- 1 - 102 a m tains under idealized climatic conditions. You ( y t i will explore model sensitivity to changes in c o l e v input temperature, precipitation and surface e 1 c 10 a mass balance parameters, and deduce a f r u parameter space yielding glacial conditions s compatible with the observed ice dam. 100 This project is open to anyone excited in understanding our planet’s glaciation history. Advanced programming skills are no prereq- Figure 1: Preliminary modelled ice topography uisite, but strong motivation to learn using (200 m contours) and velocity (blue). The red dot open-source analysis tools such as Bash, locates the former ice dam of Glacial Lake Vitim. Python and PISM is needed. Contact Julien Seguinot Hönggerbergring 26, HIA D 54.1 [email protected] Particularities Validation of model results against field-based data will be done in online collab- oration with Martin Margold (University of Alberta). 1 References [1] M. Margold and K. N. Jansson. Glacial geomorphology and glacial lakes of central Trans- baikalia, Siberia, Russia. J. Maps, 7(1):18–30, 2011. doi:10.4113/jom.2011.1132. [2] M. Margold, K. N. Jansson, A. P. Stroeven, and J. D. Jansen. Glacial Lake Vitim, a 3000- km3 outburst flood from Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. Quaternary Res., 76(3):393–396, 2011. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2011.06.009. [3] M. Margold, J. D. Jansen, A. L. Gurinov, A. T. Codilean, D. Fink, F. Preusser, N. V. Reznichenko, and C. Mifsud. Extensive glaciation in Transbaikalia, Siberia, at the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Res., 132:161–174, 2016. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.11.018. [4] R. Winkelmann, M. A. Martin, M. Haseloff, T. Albrecht, E. Bueler, C. Khroulev, and A. Lever- mann. The Potsdam Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM-PIK) – part 1: model description. The Cryosphere, 5(3):715–726, 2011. doi:10.5194/tc-5-715-2011. 2.