Geological Monitoring

Geologic Monitoring is a practical, nontechnical guide for land managers, educators, and the public that synthesizes representative methods for monitoring short-term and long-term change in geologic features and landscapes. A prestigious group of subject-matter experts has carefully selected methods for monitoring sand dunes, caves and karst, rivers, geothermal features, glaciers, nearshore marine features, beaches and marshes, paleontological resources, permafrost, seismic activity, slope movements, and volcanic features and processes. Each chapter has an overview of the resource; summarizes features that could be monitored; describes methods for monitoring each feature ranging from low-cost, low-technology methods (that could be used for school groups) to higher cost, detailed monitoring methods requiring a high level of expertise; and presents one or more targeted case studies.
Glacier monitoring techniques
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Published:January 01, 2009
Abstract
Glaciers are a significant natural resource in Alaska and the Western United States, covering respective areas of ~74,600 and 688 km2 (Dyurgerov, 2002; Fountain et al., 2007). A large percentage of these glaciers exist within the boundaries of lands managed by the U.S. federal government. For example, glaciers in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska cover a total area of ~20,000 km2 (Adema, 2004). In contrast to geologic processes that operate on time scales on the order of thousands or even millions of years, significant glacier change can occur within a human lifetime. The dynamic nature of glaciers strongly influences the hydrologic, geologic, and ecological systems in the environments in which they exist. Additionally, the sensitive and dynamic response to changes in temperature and precipitation make glaciers excellent indicators of regional and global climate change (Riedel and Burrows, 2005). Long-term monitoring of glacier change is important because it provides basic data for understanding and assessing past, current, and possible future conditions of the local, regional, and global environment. A basic understanding of local and regional environmental systems is critical for responsible land management and decision-making.
- ablation
- aerial photography
- Alaska
- calving
- climate change
- cost
- ecology
- ecosystems
- equilibrium
- geodesy
- geologic hazards
- Glacier Bay National Park
- glaciers
- Global Positioning System
- hydrology
- insolation
- landslides
- mass balance
- mass movements
- methods
- monitoring
- moraines
- natural resources
- photography
- remote sensing
- satellite methods
- Southeastern Alaska
- United States
- accumulation zone