Ms Heather Channon
PhD Student

School of Geography
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End Road
London E1 4NS
Tel: (+44) (0)207 882 5555 ext.4868
Fax: (+44) (0)208 981 6276
Email: h.channon@qmul.ac.uk

Research interests:

PhD title
Palaeo ice streams: lateral shear margins and multiscale analysis of their landforms and sediments.

Supervisors
Dr Simon Carr (Queen Mary, University of London)
Dr Chris Stokes (University of Durham)
Prof Jaap van der Meer (Queen Mary, University of London)

Funding
NERC Studentship

 

Project
Scope of PhD

My PhD examines ice stream basal processes by examining palaeo ice streams across a range of spatial scales. Key areas which I will focus on include:

  • Ice stream basal environment
  • How particle fabric (orientation) can inform us about particle behaviour and strain intensity within subglacial sediments 

Ice Streams
Ice streams are channels of fast flowing ice within ice sheets which account for up to 90% of total ice discharge from ice sheets. Ice streams play a key role in ice sheet dynamics and are intrinsically linked to ocean and climate systems. Palaeo (former) ice streams are important to study in order to reconstruct and understand former ice masses and also provide a valuable insight into the ice stream basal environment.

Ice stream basal environment
The ice stream basal environment remains somewhat of an enigma owing to its inherent inaccessibility. Basal sediments of ice streams have a significant role to play in ice stream operation and dynamics however specific properties of ice stream basal sediments are the subject of debate. Specific landforms are common to the ice stream basal environment however the formation and significance of these bedforms are uncertain.

Subglacial sediments
Subglacial sediments from palaeo glaciers have long been studied because they can inform us about the presence and characteristics of former ice masses. The strain which subglacial sediment has been under can tell us a great deal about its history and hence the character of the ice mass which overlay it.

Main Objectives 

  • To gain a better understanding of ice stream subglacial sediments and the strain signature therein
  • To gain a better understanding of the transverse strain across ice streams

Figure 1 – (a) Digital Elevation Model (Nextmap) of the Tweed Valley and (b) the ice stream landforms mapped from this image.

Figure 2 – (a) sedimentological logging (Photo from Chris Stokes); (b) micromorphological image of a sediment samples.

 

Methods
A multiscale approach has been taken to study palaeo ice stream which includes mapping and spatial analysis of remotely sensed datasets, sedimentology of sites within palaeo ice streams and the micromorphology of these sediments. Remote sensing data will include satellite imagery and Digital Elevation Models (DEM’s) from which landforms can be mapped and analysed (figure 1). The large scale of these datasets allows several palaeo ice streams to be studied and wide spatial coverage. Two ice streams will be studied in greater detail by studying the sedimentology and micromorphology of several sites within these ice streams (figure 2). These two ice streams are the Tweed Ice Stream, Scottish Borders, from the British Ice Sheet and an Ice Stream from Alberta, Canada from the Laurentide Ice Sheet.

 

 

My Background

MSc Quaternary Science, 2006-2007, Royal Holloway University of London and University College London.
Dissertation – ‘The tephrochronology of core TTR-451, Eirik Drift, south of Greenland.’

BSc Physical Geography, 2003-2006, University of Reading
Dissertation – ‘The dynamics of a small high arctic glacier’

UNIS (The University Centre in Svalbard) short course, Easter 2006 – Glacial and Periglacial Processes

Publications:

Channon, H., 2010, Report of the Micromorphology of Quaternary Sediments Symposium Day, Quaternary Newsletter 120, 15-18.

Channon, H., 2009, Report of the Micromorphology of Quaternary Sediments Symposium Day, Geophemera 107, 34-35.

Channon, H.A., Carr, S.J., and Stokes, C.R., 2009. ‘The subglacial characteristics of the Tweed Palaeo Ice Stream, British Ice Sheet’ Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 11, EGU2009-10155.

Channon, H and Denton, K. 2008. Report of the QRA Annual Field Meeting: The Quaternary of Northern Ireland. Quaternary Newsletter 116, 23-28.

Channon, H., and Stokes, C.R., 2008. Analysis of subglacial bedforms at palaeo ice stream lateral shear margins. International Symposium on Dynamics in Glaciology. Limerick, Ireland. (abstract)

 

Academic presentations and posters

‘Subglacial hydrology and sedimentary processes of a palaeo ice stream’ (Presentation), INQUA Congress, Bern, July 2011, (Upcoming).

‘Particle movement and rotation in a subglacial till’ (Poster), INQUA Congress, Bern, July 2011, (Upcoming).

‘Particle rotation and movement in a subglacially deforming till’ (Presentation), Micromorphology of Quaternary Sediments Symposium Day, Royal Holloway, University of London, June 2010.

‘The subglacial environment of the Tweed Palaeo Ice Stream, British Ice Sheet’ (Poster), UK Polar Network workshop, Sheffield, November 2009.

‘Sedimentology and geomorphology of two palaeo ice streams’ (Presentation), QRA Postgraduate Symposium, Manchester, August 2009.

‘Micromorphology of glacial and periglacial deposits in NE Scotland’ (Presentation), Micromorphology of Quaternary Sediments Symposium Day, QMUL, June 2009.

‘The subglacial environment of the Tweed Palaeo Ice Stream, British Ice Sheet’ (Poster), European Geosciences Union, Vienna, April 2009.

‘Analysis of subglacial bedforms at palaeo ice stream lateral shear margins’ (Poster), IGS International Symposium on Dynamics in Glaciology, Limerick, August 2008.