Award Dates: August 1, 2014 — May 31, 2016
Awardee: Alexander B. Michaud (Montana State University)
Advisor: John C. Priscu (Montana State University)
Abstract
Aquatic subglacial habitats occur throughout the cryosphere where basal melting is sufficient to produce aqueous environments (Priscu & Christner, 2004). Heat energy for melting of basal ice is produced by frictional heating due to glacier movement and geothermal heat flux (Fisher et al., 2015). These heat sources in concert with the lowering of the pressure melting point due to the weight and insulating properties of the overlying ice all contribute to basal ice melting.