Collaborators: Prof Sebastian Skatulla (University of Cape Town), A/Prof Marcello Vichi (University of Cape Town), Dr Keith MacHutchon (University of Cape Town), Dr Tokoloho Rampai (University of Cape Town), Dr Alfred Bogaers (University of Witwatersrand)}, Prof Joerg Schroeder, Prof Doru Lupascu, Dr Carina Schwarz and Dr Alexander Schwarz (University of Duisburg Essen), Prof Tim Ricken (University of Stuttgart), A/Prof Alessandro Toffoli (University of Melbourne) and Dr Alberto Alberello (University of Tokyo)


Figure 1: The Antarctica

Summary:

Antarctic sea-ice has a significant impact on the global climate. The seasonal variations in the occurrence of sea-ice controls the exchange between air and sea and consequently influences atmospheric and oceanic circulation. It is therefore important to understand how sea and air temperatures together with the wave dynamics of the ocean impact on the morphology of the ice.

Antarctic sea-ice dynamics is poorly understood, because it is significantly different from that in the Arctic where most research efforts have been focused on. Therefore, an interdisciplinary research collaboration has been established between the Department of Civil Engineering and the UCT Departments of Oceanography, Chemical Engineering and Electrical Engineering to combine observations from satellite and deployed buoys, in-situ ice sampling and testing during dedicated expeditions, lab experiments and numerical modelling in an effort to unravel the complex processes in the Antarctic marginal ice zone (Skatulla et al. 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2021-209; Marquart et al. 2021 https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids6050176) controlling :

  • the mechanically interaction of sea ice with wind, ocean currents and waves
  • the wave energy dissipation and scattering as linked to ice type, ice thickness and floe size
  • the thermodynamics of ice growth and brine drainage

Besides Antarctic sea ice, also the shelf ice is affected by global warming. In particular, the changing shelf ice stability affects safety of the annual re-supply operations of the South African research base in Antarctica, SANAE IV, under the auspices of the Government of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE). A research team headed by Dr MacHutchon, Prof Skatulla, and A/Prof Kalumba is therefore collaborating with DFFE to conduct a geotechnical investigation of the off-loading sites on the shelf ice at Penguin and Atka Bukta by means of satellite observation, ground penetrating radar surveys, in-situ mechanical ice testing and geotechnical modelling.

Figure 2: Map of seasonal sea ice extents in the Antarctic https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/