The Life of an Iceberg

Towering icebergs, adrift in the polar oceans, have long captured our imagination: from the ominous iceberg that sank the Titanic to idioms of a large, hidden part, “the tip of the iceberg”. But are icebergs so mysterious? In this seminar we look at icebergs through the lenses of oceanographers, glaciologists, paleoclimatologists, artists and Arctic people. We will visit an ice and sediment core repository to explore what air bubbles trapped in glacial ice and debris carried by icebergs can teach us about past climates. We will analyze satellite images and tagged polar bear data to understand how icebergs fertilize the ocean and provide unique ecological habitats. We will learn how icebergs are an integral part of the life and culture of Arctic communities through their voices and art. Through hands-on projects, field trips, readings, videos and discussions we will use icebergs to explore connections in time, space, across ice sheets and oceans, from glaciers to Arctic ecosystems to learn how to describe a natural system as a whole instead of breaking it up in distinct physical, chemical, biological components.