Uncategorized
Life in Ice: Glaciers on Lone Mountain?
Published
13 years agoon
Posted By
AdminBY CAITLYN FLORENTINE
Alaska. Antarctica. Svalbard. The European Alps. The Andes. These typical glacial settings often bring to mind landscapes characterized by smooth expanses of white, devoid of vegetation, and plentiful in ice.
However, glacial terrain in Southwest Montana – rock-glacier terrain that is – has sharp rocks, abundant evergreens, and a lack of ice. The Beartooth Plateau, the Absaroka, Gallatin, and Madison ranges are home to more than 380 rock glaciers. Lone Mountain (a.k.a. Lone Peak) alone, located within the Madison range, harbors nearly ten of these rock glaciers on its flanks, one of which underlies a considerable area of Big Sky resort terrain. The Lone Peak rock glacier (LPRG) is one mile in length, originating at the base of the Big Couloir and extending all the way beyond the natural half-pipe off of the green run Mr. K on the lower mountain.
How can Southwest Montana, a mid-latitude, cold but relatively dry area, be considered a glacial setting? What is a rock glacier and how can an environment so covered in rocks and trees simultaneously harbor glaciers? Could these “rock glaciers” provide micro-environments suitable for microbial life found in similar glacial environments? In the past two years, since moving to Bozeman in the fall of 2008, I have conducted research on the LPRG: its regional context in Southwest Montana, its internal structure and its role as a microbial habitat.
Glaciers are slow moving rivers of ice. Rock glaciers are slow moving rivers of rock and ice. Scientifically they are described as “talus-mantled geomorphic features that are lobate in shape, bordered by steep margins, and that flow due to the presence of inferred internal ice.” Rock glaciers look like rock tongues or rock streams. They flow down the sides of mountains where rocky material is abundant and ice is present either as a vestige of the past, or a token of the present. Serious debates still remain as to whether rock glaciers are old ice glaciers buried in rock, or if they are piles of rock frozen together by ice sourced in modern precipitation.
MSU professor of Earth Sciences Mark Skidmore has performed research in typical glacial settings around the world — Antarctica, the Alps, and the Yukon Territories – studying subglacial environments as habitats for microorganisms. He looks at the relationship between microbial life and the presence of rocky material in icy environments. Rock glaciers contain both rocky material and ice, so it figures they might serve as happy habitats for microbial life much the same way as subglacial environments do in typical glaciers. However, prior to work Dr. Skidmore and I conducted on the LPRG, rock glaciers have previously never been considered for their microbial component.
Advised by Dr. Skidmore, I performed initial analyses on the microbial and geochemical component of rock glacier ice. Just above the bottom tram station at Big Sky Resort, I excavated ~9 ft of rock glacier debris with the mechanical assistance of a mini-bobcat excavator. This excavation revealed a continuous ice surface, which I sampled via a chain-sawing technique. I took the ice samples back to MSU to be considered for microbiology and geochemistry.
Big Sky Institute graduate Fellow and Montana State University (MSU) graduate student Caitlyn Florentine is from Louisville, Colorado and has a bachelor’s degree in geology from Colorado College. She currently holds a position at MSU as lab manager with the Paleoecology research group. She is also a part-time snowboard instructor at Big Sky Resort Snowsports School, and is working on preparing chapters of her thesis for publication. You can contact her at caitlyn.florentine@gmail.com.
Upcoming Events
april, 2024
Event Type :
All
All
Arts
Education
Music
Other
Sports
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before 9/10/2024:
more
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before
9/10/2024: Kindergarten
enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year can be completed by following the
registration process now.
Children
born on or after September 11, 2019: 4K enrollment is now open for
families that have a 4-year-old they would like to enroll in our program for
the 2023-2024 school year. Please complete the 4K Interest Form to
express your interest. Completing this form does not guarantee enrollment into
the 4K program. Enrollment is capped at twenty 4-year-olds currently
residing within Big Sky School District boundary full time and will be
determined by birth date in calendar order of those born on or after September
11, 2018. Interest form closes on May 30th.
Enrollment now is critical for fall preparations. Thank you!
Time
February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
more
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
Time
March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
Location
Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
more
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
Event Details
Everyone is invited to join us in celebrating 2 years of arts education in the BASE Art Studio with us! Take a tour
Event Details
Everyone is invited to join us in celebrating 2 years of arts education in the BASE Art Studio with us! Take a tour of the studio, meet our instructors, and meet other artists of all levels in our community. We’ll be getting creative and you’ll have the chance to make your very own artful button pin.
Stick around for our Volunteer Appreciation and Social beginning at 6:30 p.m.!
Time
(Thursday) 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Location
BASE
285 Simkins Dr