UWS Department of Geography

Professor Tavi Murray

Brief CV

Research

Current Grants

    Postdoctoral Fellows and Postgraduate Students
    Teaching
    Publications
    Other Links

Glaciology Group
Department of Geography
School of the Environment and Society

Swansea University
Singleton Park
Swansea, SA2 8PP

Tel. 01792 602269

Fax. 01792 295955
Email: t.murray@swansea.ac.uk

Brief CV

Qualifications

1984 - 1987 B.Sc. Physics and Computer Science, University of Wales Aberystwyth, UK, 1st class honours.

1987 - 1990 Ph.D. Glacier geophysics, University of Wales Aberystwyth and Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, UK.

Abbreviated Career History

2005 - present Professor of Glaciology, School of the Environment and Society, Swansea University, UK.

My appointment coincided with the formation of the Swansea Glaciology Group, which now consists of five permanent academic staff.

2004 - 2005 Professor of Glaciology, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.

2004 - 2005 Leverhulme Research Fellow, "Basal conditions on Rutford Ice Stream, Antarctica"

This fellowship funded my teaching replacement during my 4 month field season on Rutford ice stream in northern hemisphere winter 2004-5 for RABID - a major NERC AFI funded project.

2002 - 2004 Reader in Glaciology, School of Geography, University of Leeds, UK.

1993 - 2002 Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.

2000 British Geomorphological Research Group Warwick Award for "glaciological research, in particular the ground-breaking use of geophysical techniques"

Some Current Professional Activities

Editorial board member for Quaternary Science Reviews, 2003-5
Editorial advisory board member Transactions of IBG, 2005-2010
Scientific editor for Journal of Geophysical Research, Earth Surface, "The Dynamics of Glacier System Response: Tidewater Glaciers and the Ice Streams and Outlet Glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica"
Editorial Board for Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 2005-
Responsible for www pages for the International Glaciological Society British Branch: http://www.igsbb.org/
Chair, NERC Geophysical Equipment Facility Steering Committee, 2003-2006
NERC Peer Review College, 2003-2006
External examiner for BSc and MSci Geophysics, Earth and Planetary Science and Space Physics degrees at UCL, University of London, 2005-2008.
Expert reviewer for IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Chapter 15: Polar Regions (Arctic and Antarctic), 2005-2006.
Invited lecturer, MSc module in Glacier Dynamics, University of Norway in Svalbard, 2006-
UK-PI on "MARGINS" (Measurement and Attribution of recent Greenland Ice Sheet Changes) - cluster application to IPY.

Research interests and current projects

My group's research concentrates on fast flowing glaciers and ice streams, and glacier instabilities. These glaciers are one of the most rapidly changing parts of the cryosphere, and many are experiencing rapid thinning, especially around the margins of the major ice sheets. The issues we are trying to address are:

Quantification of the past and future contribution from glaciers and ice sheets to sea-level rise;

Understanding the processes driving the present rapid and dramatic changes observed in glaciers and the instabilities inherent in glacial systems;

Understanding the record of palaeo-ice mass instabilities and the processes that drove these changes.

At the moment I have three major active research projects, which are all NERC funded; field work is located in the Arctic, Antarctic and Alps:

SLICES: Sea Level Rise from ICE on Svalbard. This project aims to provide a reassessment of the historic and future contribution of Svalbard's ice masses to global sea level. The techniques we use are airborne remote sensing using contempoary LiDAR and historical air photographs together with regional mass balance modelling. I am PI of this project and we have many project partners who are listed on the project www site.

RABID: Basal conditions on Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica. The project aims to improve predictions of the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during climate change. Specifically we aim to: (1) Understand controls on the present day ice stream dynamics and elucidate basal conditions and processes of fast flow; (2) Interpret past ice sheet history in the region. We will drill through Rutford Ice Stream, retrieve ice core samples from selected depths, and sample the basal sediment. The hole will be instrumented to measure basal sliding, bed deformation and basal water pressure. We will measure temperature and deformation within the ice column. The project also includes surface measurement of velocity and seismic emissions during the field season. This is a major, multi-disciplinary project, which will deliver fundamental results of international public and scientific interest. This project is collaborative with Dr Andy Smith, Dr Keith Nicholls and Dr Keith Makinson of the British Antarctic Survey.

Tsanfleuron: Effect of the spatial variability of physical parameters on the rheology of temperate glaciers and their modelled response to climate change. This project aims to address the current lack of knowledge concerning ice rheological structure of temperate valley glaciers, using a multi-disciplinary research programme, in order to develop a model of valley glacier flow that can predict and incorporate layers of different ice rheology. There are two components: 1) To determine the variability in ice properties which are important controls on rheology at the temperate valley glacier: Glacier de Tsanfleuron, Switzerland. This is being achieved using a combined field, laboratory and theoretical study. 2) To develop a model, which associates different rheological units with their large-scale glaciological controls, and to generalise this information to other glaciers. We are undrtaking surface and borehole radar surveys to measure ice-water content which has a strong control on ice rheology. This project is collaborative with Dr Bryn Hubbard (Aberystwyth), Dr Heidy Mader (Bristol), and Dr Jared West (Leeds).

We are also in the process of applying for funding for a major IPY project in Greenland - GLIMPSE - the Greenland Ice Margins - Prediction, Stability and Evolution, or more formally: Controls on thinning at the periphery of the Greenland ice sheet. This is a major project involving 10 applicants from 5 UK universities and 23 project partners from around the world. Southern Greenland's margins and outlet glaciers are thinning at a dramatic rate, which has profound implications for global sea level, ocean circulation, and regional climate. This thinning can only partially be explained by recent changes in the balance between surface accumulation and ablation (the surface mass balance), and therefore must also result from changes in ice dynamics. Increased summer temperatures produce more meltwater over a larger area of the ice sheet, with the potential to penetrate to the bed and enhance glacier flow through basal lubrication. Enhanced flow can cause a positive feedback by opening new pathways for meltwater between surface and bed, and by transporting ice to lower elevations where temperatures are warmer. As climate warms still further, more of the Greenland ice sheet will experience sustained temperatures above 0ºC and be subject to dynamic thinning. Since these processes have recently been discovered and they are inadequately incorporated into coupled ice sheet-climate models, there is an urgent need to investigate them in more detail. The International Polar Year provides the ideal opportunity for a UK Consortium of researchers with a proven track record to understand the recent changes and thereby to make better predictions of the response of the Greenland ice sheet to future climate change. This GLIMPSE Consortium proposes to quantify the relative importance of surface mass balance and dynamic processes in driving the observed thinning, and to model the ice-sheet response under 21st Century climate scenarios. Through an integrated program of mass balance and flowline modelling, new field observations, and remote sensing of outlet glacier velocity and height change, we will provide policy makers with improved predictions of Greenland's future contribution to sea level rise and to the freshwater budget of the North Atlantic.

Current Grants

2004 - 2007 Changes in glacier geometry and extent in Svalbard: implications for sea level rise during the 20th and 21st centuries, NERC, with S. Barr, P. Clarke, M. King, J. Mills all Univ. Newcastle, A. Luckman Univ. Wales Swansea, T. Payne, J. Wadham Univ. Bristol, NE/B505203/1, £249 828.

2004 - 2007 Effect of the spatial variability of physical parameters on the rheology of temperate glaciers and their modelled response to climate change, NERC, with B. Hubbard, Univ. Wales, Aberystwyth, H. Mader, Univ. Bristol, A. Endres, Univ. Waterloo, Canada, L.J. West, Leeds, NER/A/S/2002/01000, £187 734.

2003 - 2006 Prediction of construction conditions in landfill cells using geophysical surveys, Landfill tax credit (Virador), with L.J. West and R. Clark, Leeds Earth Sciences, £54 000.

2004 - 2008 Basal conditions on Rutford Ice Stream: Hot water drilling and downhole instrumentation, with A.M. Smith, BAS, NERC AFI GR3/G005B, £505 311.

Postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate students

Dr Tim James
Dr Ale Forieri

I am primary PhD supervisor for:

Remko de Lange

Brian Barrett (at Leeds)

Nick Barrand

Helena Sykes

Adam Booth (at Leeds)

Benny Reinardy

and second PhD supervisor for:

Suzanne Bevan

Current glaciology postdoctoral and Ph.D. projects and potential funding sources are listed here: http://geography.swan.ac.uk/glaciology/Vacancies.php I always warmly welcome enquiries from potential postdocs and Ph.D. candidates - please contact me if you are interested in working in our group!

Teaching

I convene a 3rd year module, geg 344 Glaciology.

Publications since 2001

Kulessa, B., Murray, T., Rippin, D. (In review) Seismoelectric exploration of the cryosphere. Geophysical Research Letters, submitted January 2006.

Barrand, N.E. and Murray, T. (In review) Multivariate controls on the incidence of glacier surging in the Karakoram Himalaya. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, submittted October 2005.

James, T.D., Murray, T., Barrand, N.E. and Barr, S.L. (In review) Extracting photogrammetric ground control from lidar DEMs for change detection. Photogrammetric Record, submitted August 2005.

Stuart, G.W., Murray, T., Brisbourne, A., Styles, P. and Toon, S. (2005) Acoustic emissions from a surging glacier: Bakaninbreen, Svalbard, Annals of Glaciology , 42, 151-157.

Luckman, A., Murray, T., de Lange, R., Hanna, E. (In press) Rapid and synchronous ice-dynamic changes in East Greenland. Geophysical Research Letters, accepted December 2005.

Lockwood, R.A., Murray, T., Stuart, G.W. and Scudder, L. Locating leaks from water supply pipes using the passive acoustic method, Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology, 54(8), 519-530, 2005.

Pritchard, H., Murray, T., Luckman, A, Strozzi, T. and Barr, S. Glacier surge dynamics of Sortebræ, East Greenland, from synthetic aperture radar feature tracking, Journal of Geophysical Research, 110, F03005, doi:10.1029/2004JF000233, 2005.

Kilner, M., West, L.J. and Murray, T. Characterisation of glacial sediments using geophysical methods for groundwater source protection, Journal of Applied Geophysics, 57(4), 293-305, 2005.

Luckman, A. and Murray, T. Change in flow mechanism and dynamics before retreat of Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L08501, doi:10.1029/2005GL022519, 2005.

Hambrey, M.J., Murray, T., Glasser, N.F., Hubbard, A., Hubbard, B., Stuart, G.W. and Hansen, S. Structure and changing dynamics of a polythermal valley glacier on a centennial time-scale: midre Lovénbreen, Svalbard, Journal of Geophysical Research, 110, F01006, doi:10.1029/2004JF000128, 2005.

Woodward, J., Murray, T., Clark, R.A. and Stuart, G.W. Glacier surge mechanisms inferred from ground-penetrating radar: Kongsvegen, Svalbard, Journal of Glaciology, 49(167), 473-480, 2003.

Pritchard, H., Murray, T., Strozzi, T., Barr, S. and Luckman, A. Glacier surge-related topographic change derived from Synthetic Aperture Radar interferometry, Journal of Glaciology, 49(166), 381-390, 2003.

Stuart, G.W., Murray, T., Gamble, N.H., Hayes, K. and Hodson, A. Characterisation of englacial channels by ground-penetrating radar: an example from austre Brøggerbreen, Svalbard, Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(B11), 2525, 10.1029/2003JB002435, 2003.

Kulessa, B. and Murray, T. Slug-test derived differences in bed hydraulic properties between a surge-type and a non-surge type Svalbard glacier, Annals of Glaciology, 36, 103-109, 2003.

Jiskoot, H., Murray, T. and Luckman, A. Surge potential and drainage basin characteristics in East Greenland, Annals of Glaciology, 36, 142-148, 2003.

Luckman, A., Murray, T., Jiskoot, H., Pritchard, H.D., Strozzi, T. Automatic ERS SAR feature-tracking measurement of outlet glacier velocities on a regional scale in East Greenland, Annals of Glaciology, 36, 129-134, 2003.

Murray, T., Luckman, A., Strozzi, T. and Nuttall, A.-M. The initiation of glacier surging at Fridtjovbreen, Svalbard, Annals of Glaciology, 36, 110-116, 2003.

Murray, T., Strozzi, T., Luckman, A., Jiskoot, H. and Christakos, P. Is there a single surge mechanism? Contrasts in dynamics between glacier surges in Svalbard and other regions, Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(B5), 2237, 10.1029/2002JB001906, 2003.

Strozzi, T., Luckman, A., Murray, T., Wegmüller, U., Werner, C. Glacier motion using satellite-radar offset tracking procedures, IEEE Transactions on Geosciences and Remote Sensing, 40(11), 2384-2391, 2002.

Luckman, A., Murray, T. and Strozzi, T. Surface flow evolution throughout a glacier surge measured by satellite radar interferometry, Geophysical Research Letters, 29(23), 2095, 10.1029/2001GL014570, 2002.

Woodward, J., Murray, T. and McCaig, A. Formation and reorientation of structure at a surge-type glacier: Kongsvegen, Svalbard, Journal of Quaternary Science, 17(3), 201-209, 2002.

Smith, A.M., Murray, T. Davison, B., Clough, A.F., Woodward, J. and Jiskoot, H. Late-surge glacial conditions on Bakaninbreen, Svalbard and implications for surge termination. Journal of Geophysical Research, 107(B8), 2152, 10.1029/2001JB000475, 2002.

Fuller, S. and Murray, T. Sedimentological investigations in the forefield of an Icelandic surge-type glacier: implications for the surge mechanism. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21(12-13), 1503-1520, 2002.

Murray, T., Strozzi, T., Luckman, A., Pritchard, H. and Jiskoot, H. Ice dynamics during a surge of Sortebræ, East Greenland. Annals of Glaciology, 34, 323-329, 2002.

Jiskoot, H., Pedersen, A.K. and Murray, T. Multi-model photogrammetric analysis of the 1990s surge of Sortebræ, East Greenland. Journal of Glaciology, 47(159), 677-687, 2001.

Murray, T. and Porter, P.R. Basal conditions beneath a soft-bedded polythermal surge-type glacier: Bakaninbreen, Svalbard. Quaternary International, 86(1), 103-116, 2001.

Fowler, A. C., Murray, T. and Ng, F.S.L. Thermal regulation of glacier surging. Journal of Glaciology, 47(159), 527-538, 2001.

Porter, P.R. and Murray, T. Hydrological and mechanical properties of till beneath Bakaninbreen, Svalbard. Journal of Glaciology, 47(157), 167-175, 2001.

Selected publications pre-2001

Murray, T., Stuart, G.W., Fry, M., Gamble, N.G. and Crabtree, M.D. Englacial water distribution in a temperate glacier from surface and borehole radar velocity analysis. Journal of Glaciology, 46(154), 389-398, 2000.

Jiskoot, H., Murray, T. and Boyle, P.J. Controls on the distribution of surge-type glaciers in Svalbard, Journal of Glaciology, 46(154), 412-422, 2000.

Murray, T., Stuart, G.W., Miller, P.J., Woodward, J., Smith, A.M., Porter, P.R. and Jiskoot, H. Glacier surge propagation by thermal evolution at the bed. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105(B6), 13491-13507, 2000.

Atkinson, P., Jiskoot, H., Massari, R. and Murray, T. Generalised Linear Modelling applications in geomorphology. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Technical and Software Bulletin, 23, 1185-1195, 1998.

Jiskoot, H., Boyle, P.J. and Murray, T. The incidence of glacier surging in Svalbard: evidence from multivariate statistics. Computers and Geosciences, 24(4), 387-399, 1998.

Murray, T., Dowdeswell, J.A., Drewry, D.J. and Frearson, I. Geometric evolution and ice dynamics during a surge of Bakaninbreen, Svalbard. Journal of Glaciology, 44(147), 263-272, 1998.

Murray, T. Assessing the paradigm shift: deformable glacier beds. Quaternary Science Reviews, 16(9): 995-1016, 1997.

Porter, P.R., Murray, T. and Dowdeswell, J.A. Sediment deformation and basal dynamics beneath a glacier surge front: Bakaninbreen, Svalbard. Annals of Glaciology, 24: 21-26, 1997.

Murray, T., Gooch, D.L. and Stuart, G.W. Structures within the surge-front at Bakaninbreen, Svalbard using ground-penetrating radar. Annals of Glaciology, 24: 122-129, 1997.

Hambrey, M.J., Dowdeswell, J.A., Murray, T. and Porter, P.R. Thrusting and debris-entrainment in a surge-type glacier: Bakaninbreen, Svalbard. Annals of Glaciology, 22: 241-248, 1996.

Nicholas, A.P., Ashworth, P.J., Kirkby, M.J., Macklin, M.G. and Murray, T. Sediment slugs: large-scale fluctuations in fluvial sediment transport rates and storage volumes. Progress in Physical Geography, 19(4): 500-519, 1995.

Murray, T. and Clarke, G.K.C. Black-box modeling of the subglacial water system. Journal of Geophysical Research, 100(B7), 10231-10245, 1995.

Murray, T. and Dowdeswell, J.A. Water throughflow and the physical effects of deformation on sedimentary glacier beds. Journal of Geophysical Research, 97(B6): 8993-9002, 1992.

Other links

SLICES Project

RABID Project

Tsanfleuron Project

Swansea Glaciology Group

Department of Geography

University of Wales, Swansea

International Glaciology Society, British Branch

Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)