Management of cold environments 1900-ERASMUS-MCE

Following issues will be addressed during the lecture:
 Permafrost: distribution and types, methods of determining its thickness, thermal profiles, active layer, frost heave and thaw settlement, thermokarst processes; 3h
 Engineering solutions used in construction of houses, roads, rail-roads, air strips, pipelines on permafrost – examples from Siberia, Tibet, Alaska, Canada, Spitsbergen; 4h
 Industrial expansion in circum-polar regions; 1h
 Mountain glaciers and ice-caps: distribution, changing mass balance, history of glaciations, contemporary rate of deglaciation, glaciological threats: surges, ice avalanches, glacier outbursts (jökulhlaups); 6h
 High-mountain infrastructure (touristic, communication, industry); 2h
 Arctic Ocean sea-ice: rate of ice melting, territorial disputes over access to mineral deposits, industrial expansion in the Arctic – chances and threats; 4h
 Contemporary polar bases and scientific programmes – examples from Spitsbergen, Greenland and the Antarctic; 4h
 Indigenous people of the Arctic, ethnic groups, life in the north, political organisations, struggle for land ownership; 2 h
 Pollution of the polar areas – reasons and effects; 4h

Type of course

elective courses

Mode

Classroom

Course coordinators

Maciej Dąbski

Learning outcomes

The outcomes of the subjects includes:

KNOWLEDGE OF
 permafrost: distribution and types, its structure and thermal pattern, thermokarst processes
 selected examples of infrastructure on in permafrost regions
 engineering problems (and mitigations) rising from freeze-thaw processes in the ground
 mountain glaciers structure and functioning
 glacial hazards (surges, ice avalanches, glacier outbursts)
 examples of high-mountain infrastructure (touristic, communication, industry)
 Arctic Ocean sea-ice issues (rate of ice melting, territorial disputes)
 examples of contemporary polar bases and scientific programmes
 settlement history and ethnography of the Arctic
 elementary knowledge of pollution issues

ABILITY TO
 locate permafrost regions on the map and assess permafrost thickness and character
 forecast permafrost reaction to climate warming
 foresee hazards to infrastructure resulting from freeze-thaw processes and assess methods of mitigation of construction failures
 foresee mountain glacial hazards
 find information about circum-polar regions

ATTITUDE

 to acknowledge specific conditions of managing cold regions (circum-polar and high-mountain)
 to acknowledge importance of climate warming for geographical environments of cold regions

Assessment criteria

Summative assessment in a form of an essay on one of the issues referred to during the lecture.
The grade from the essay constitutes 50% of the final grade, attendance - another 50%.
Unjustificed absence on 8 lectures results in failure of the subject.
The best grade (5) is given in case of high attendance (max 2 unjustified absences) and the essay which significantly broadens the lecture content.
It is possible to pass a re-sit session on the same terms.

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 1900-ERASMUS-MCE in USOSweb