| Academic Year | 2024-2025 |
| r03kr24@abdn.ac.uk | |
| Institution | University of Aberdeen |
Biography
School: School of Geosciences
Pronouns: she/her
Project: Unravelling Glacier and Climate History of the Californian Sierra Nevada during the Last Deglaciation
Supervisors:Dr Matteo Spagnolo, Dr Donal Mullan, Dr Brice Rea, Dr David Fink & Greg Stock
Undergraduate Education: BSc Geography, Martin-Luther-Universitaet Halle-Wittenberg
Postgraduate Education: MSc Environmental Conservation, University of Greenwich
Research: While the palaeo-glacier and palaeo-climate record is relatively well known for the last glacial maximum (LGM) in the Sierra Nevada, far less is understood on the changes that followed during the deglaciation. Several questions of the Sierra Nevada deglaciation remain unanswered and require attention. At what rate did the ice retreat? How many readvances and/or stillstands occurred? Did initial retreat from LGM occur synchronously? Were these changes linked to largescale (i.e. global) climatic trends or more regional/localised (i.e. micro) conditions? What climate forcing(s) affected the deglaciation history? Was the deglaciation history of the Sierra Nevada in line with that of other North American and possibly European mountains? What lessons can be learned that are applicable to future climate trends, and their effect on glaciers, across the world? My research is going to focus on identifying, sampling and dating Lateglacial moraines and erratics in many sites across the Sierra Nevada to provide a geographically comprehensive chronology of palaeoglacier dynamics. Glacier geometries will be reconstructed using physically-robust, 3D models. These will be used to calculate the palaeoglacier equilibrium line altitudes which, in turn, will be combined with other, independent palaeoclimate proxies to provide a complete reconstruction of the climate (temperature and precipitation) during the deglaciation.
Other:
- External partners: Yosemite National Park, USA & Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Australia
