Broadly, I research glacier, climate and landscape change in mountain settings, both in the past and present. I study landforms and sediments to determine the extent, style, and dynamics of past glaciation. I am also an expert in high-precision dating of former glacier activity using varves and tephrochronology. I use remote sensing and GIS to map and analyse recent variations in mountain glaciers and icefields. Glacier and hydro-climate change in British Columbia |
This is the topic of my current research position at UNBC, and is supported by the Hakai Institute.
This project is focused on glacier and hydro-climatic change in the Lake Owikeno watershed, in the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. I am using remotely sensed data to analyse recent glacier variations, and annually layered (varved) sediments cored from Lake Owikeno to examine longer-term relationships between glacier fluctuations, catchment hydrology, and climate. More coming soon... |
The Juneau Icefield since the Little Ice Age |
I am working as part of an international project to examine the history and dynamics of the Juneau Icefield, in the Coast Mountains of Alaska (USA) and British Columbia (Canada). This project uses geomorphology, remote sensing, and glaciological (e.g. mass balance) data to analyse long-term patterns in icefield behaviour. My role in this project focuses on delineating glacier extent from satellite imagery.
More coming soon... |
Glacial history of Patagonia |
This was the topic of my Ph.D research.
In this project, I explored the deglacial history of the Lago General Carrera (Chile)–Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Lago Cochrane–Pueyrredón (46–48°S) ice lobes of the former Patagonian Ice Sheet. This work involved mapping glacial landforms (Bendle et al. 2017., Journal of Maps) to underpin palaeoglaciological reconstructions, including a revised model of regional proglacial lake history (Thondycraft et al., 2018, Quaternary Science Reviews). Over four field seasons, I also derived the first annually-resolved record of Patagonian Ice Sheet activity (Bendle et al., 2017, Quaternary Science Reviews) using varved lake sediments and tephrochronology. With this high-resolution record, I explored large-scale climate controls on former ice dynamics (Bendle et al., 2019, Scientific Reports) and glacier sensitivity to interannual and decadal climate variability through spectral analyses of varve thickness time-series (Bendle et al., in prep). More recently, I have been involved in an ice-sheet wide compilation of geomorphology and geochronology covering the last 35 ka (Davies et al., 2020, Earth-Science Reviews). |
Methods in sedimentology |
I use glacial lake (glaciolacustrine) sediments to examine glacier and hydro-climatic history, but I am also interested in developing and testing novel approaches for their investigation.
My master's dissertation – which won the Geologists' Association Curry Prize in 2013 - tested the use of X-ray computed microtomgraphy (μCT) for non-destructive, quantitative, and three-dimensional analysis of glacial varves. In this work, I formulated best practices for μCT scanning of unconsolidated, clay-rich samples. (Bendle et al., 2015, Quaternary Science Reviews). More recently, I have been involved in developing protocols for thin section (mircromorphological) examination of varved glacial lake sediments (Palmer et al., 2019, Quaternary Science Reviews). |
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