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2. Course code

ATM343

Aikaisemmat leikkaavat opintojaksot 535008 Glasiologia, 5 op

3. Course status: optional

-Which degree programme is responsible for the course?
Master's Programme in Atmospheric Sciences

-Which module does the course belong to?
ATM300 Advanced Studies in Atmospheric Sciences (optional for Study Track in Geophysics of the Hydrosphere)

-Is the course available to students from other degree programmes?
Yes

4. Course level (first-, second-, third-cycle/EQF levels 6, 7 and 8)

Master’s level, degree programmes in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine = secondcycle
degree/EQF level 7
Doctoral level = third-cycle (doctoral) degree/EQF level 8

-Does the course belong to basic, intermediate or advanced studies (cf. Government Decree
on University Degrees)?
Advanced studies

5. Recommended time/stage of studies for completion

-The recommended time for completion may be, e.g., after certain relevant courses have
been completed.

Can be taken in the early or later stages of studies.

6. Term/teaching period when the course will be offered

-The course may be offered in the autumn or spring term or both.
-If the course is not offered every year, this must be indicated here.
-Specification of the teaching period when the course will be offered

Given every second year (even years) in the spring term (next spring 2018)

7. Scope of the course in credits

5 cr

8. Teacher coordinating the course

Thomas Zwinger

9. Course learning outcomes

-Description of the learning outcomes provided to students by the course
- See the competence map (https://flamma.helsinki.fi/content/res/pri/HY350274).

Snow and Ice (Lumi ja jää)

Mass-balance (Massatase)

Energy-balance (Lämpötase)

Ice structure and deformation (Jään rakenne ja deformaatio)

Glacial hydrology (Jäätiköiden hydrauliikka)

Basal sliding (Jäätiköiden liuku)

Glacial isostasy (Maapohjan deformaatio)

Structure of glaciers (Jäätiköiden rakenne)

Heat transfer in glaciers (Lämpötila jäätiköissä)

Glaciers in equilibrium (Jäätiköiden vakaa virtaus)

Ice shelves and streams (Jäähyllyjen virtaus ja jäävirrat)

Glaciers in non-equlibrium (Jäätiköiden epävakaa virtaus)

Ice and climate, Ice-cores (Jää ja ilmasto, Jäätikkökairaukset)

10. Course completion methods

-Will the course be offered in the form of contact teaching, or can it be taken as a distance
learning course?
-Description of attendance requirements (e.g., X% attendance during the entire course or
during parts of it)
-Methods of completion

Regular Exercises and final exam. Exercises are either pen and paper style or at most demand some simple python/Matlab programming.

11. Prerequisites

-Description of the courses or modules that must be completed before taking this course or
what other prior learning is required

Basic Mathematics (Calculus and Algebra)

12. Recommended optional studies

-What other courses are recommended to be taken in addition to this course?
-Which other courses support the further development of the competence provided by this
course?

The current course "Continuum Application in Ice and Snow Physics" (535039) is intended as a continuation of this lecture.

13. Course content

-Description of the course content

The course introduces the principles of ice mechanics and thermodynamics. This includes internal deformation (down to micro-mechanical behaviour), basal sliding and heat-transfer in ice. Furthermore the coupling of ice masses to the climate system in form of the surface mass balance and surface energy balance and the global energy balance of the Earth is presented. In the exercises we study simplified mechanical models that demand sufficient mathematical skills in calculus and algebra.

14. Recommended and required literature

-What kind of literature and other materials are read during the course (reading list)?
-Which works are set reading and which are recommended as supplementary reading?

    Lecture slides via Moodle

    Main literature the course is based on:

    Cuffey, K and Paterson, W.S.B, 2010, The physics of glaciers ; 4th ed . of Paterson, W.S.B. 1994., Butteworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK. Also 5th ed. available.

    Greve, R. & Blatter H., Dynamics of Ice Sheets and Glaciers, Springer, 2009

    Supplementary reading:  

    Benn , D.I.and Evans D.J.A, Glaciers and Glaciation - 2nd Edition, Hodder Arnold Publication)

    Hambrey, M. & Alean, J. 2004. Glaciers, 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK.

    Hooke, R.B. 2005. Principles of glacier mechanics, 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK.

15. Activities and teaching methods in support of learning

-See the competence map (https://flamma.helsinki.fi/content/res/pri/HY350274).
-Student activities
-Description of how the teacher’s activities are documented

Weekly lectures and and exercises (individual work).

16. Assessment practices and criteria, grading scale

-See the competence map (https://flamma.helsinki.fi/content/res/pri/HY350274).
-The assessment practices used are directly linked to the learning outcomes and teaching
methods of the course.

Final grade is based on exercises (50%) and final exam (50%).

17. Teaching language

English