UC Geologists Head to Alaskan Ice Fields
Glacial Studies Focused on Global Climate Change

Cincinnati - One of the best places to look for signs that the Earth is heating up might turn out to be one of the coldest. So, a team of University of Cincinnati geologists headed to Alaska in August to trek up the mountains and track down changes in giant glaciers over the years.

Team leader Professor Thomas Lowell left with 14 undergraduate and graduate students Thursday, Aug. 9 for a three-week course on glacial field methods. The group traveled 1,800 miles from Anchorage and Seward through three different mountain regions where active glaciers provide a record of climate changes since the last Ice Age.

Lowell recently co-authored a paper in the internationally recognized journal Nature which showed how climate changes in the Southern Hemisphere appear to coincide with climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere. During the three-week course, he showed the students how to gather that data for themselves by looking at how Alaska's glaciers have advanced and retreated over the last 10,000 years.

A few video highlights follow: