Pat Langhorne

Biography

I have been fascinated by the polar regions since my teenage years. After undergraduate physics at the University of Aberdeen (in Scotland) I completed a PhD on sea ice at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, England. In 1985 I was invited to take part in an Antarctic experiment which brought me to New Zealand for the first time, and since 1988 I have been teaching physics and researching sea ice physical processes at the University of Otago. Working with post-graduate students and with national and international collaborators, I have taken part in about twenty research visits to Antarctica .

Research Interest

The coastal sea ice of Antarctica is significantly influenced by proximity to an ice shelf. Due to melting in the ice shelf basal cavity, very cold water emerges from at its edge. Ice crystals can appear in the water column, attach themselves to the ice-water interface, and grow in the extremely cold water there. This ice preserves a record of the oceanographic conditions at the time of its formation during the Antarctic winter. The challenge of interpreting this ocean signature, and understanding its relation to the properties of the sea ice cover, is an interest of our group. We use our understanding to create models of the crystallography and physical properties that result from this process.