Abstracts - Posters

The Influence of Recent Climate Change on the Glacial Dynamics of the Freshwater Reaches of the St. Lawrence River - Case Study: Varennes / Sorel

Vincent Moreau
Université du Québec à Montréal
moreau.vincent@courrier.uqam.ca

Changes in the distribution of the ice cover represent one of the direct consequences of climate change resulting from the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (Cemagref, 2000; Conway et al., 1999). Ice constitutes an important factor in the alteration of shorelines and the modification of hydrological and biochemical parameters of rivers (Gaskin et al., 2001; Dionne and Brodeur, 1988) and current knowledge does not allow for the quantification of the extent of the phenomenon in the St. Lawrence River. Climate change can have a direct effect on the following socio-economic and economic factors: costs related to the protection of riverbanks, the morpho-sedimentology, the frequency of ice-breaker use, the frequency of floods due to the formation of frazil ice jams, the disturbance of habitats in wet areas and finally, the river's hydrodynamics (Prowse et al., 1996). This research project seeks to determine the repercussions of climate change on the glaciological regime of the St. Lawrence River in the Varennes-Sorel freshwater reaches based on a historical tracking (1970's to 2002) of the extent of ice coverage coupled with meteorological and hydrological data series.

The poster will illustrate the preliminary results of our research as well as the methodology employed.

2005-04-06