Yaowen Zheng
Contact
Phone: 04 463 5233 x 8373
Email: Yaowen.Zheng@vuw.ac.nz
Office: CO522
Qualifications
BSc Ocean University of China (2020); BSc Hons University of Tasmania (2020)
PhD Candidate in Geophysics
PhD thesis
Title
Understanding surface melt in Antarctica and implication for future ice sheet evolution.
Supervisors
Supporting academics
Project objectives and description
This project aims to better understand surface melting of the Antarctic ice sheet. Surface melting in Antarctica produces meltwater on the surface of the ice sheet that might impact Antarctic mass balance and its influence on global mean sea level. In the context of global climate change, the accelerating mass loss of Antarctic ice sheet will play an increasingly important role in the future and will very likely pose a threat to many of the coastal communities for many generations to come. However, we currently do not know much about surface melting in Antarctica. Well-studied Greenland surface melting can lead us to better understand the surface melting mechanisms in Antarctica at present. Proxy-based ice core records can shed light on melting during previous millennia. Observation-based numerical modelling and data-model comparison will be used to assess potential implications for future ice sheet evolution.
Publications
Zheng, Y., Jong, L.M., Phipps, S.J., Roberts, J.L., Moy, A.D., Curran, M.A.J., van Ommen, T.D. (2021). Extending and understanding the South West Western Australian rainfall record using a snowfall reconstruction from Law Dome, East Antarctica, Climate of the Past 17, 1973-87. doi:10.5194/cp-17-1973-2021
Zheng, Y., Phipps, S., Roberts, J., Jong, L.M. (2020). Extending and understanding the South West Western Australian rainfall record using the Dome Summit South ice core, East Antarctica. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS). doi:10.25959/5f4c50b7b661f