Department of Physics
SEA ICE RESEARCH

David Dempsey

David Dempsey

BSc (Otago)
MSc (Otago)

Research Interests:

Thesis: Observations and modelling of platelet ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica
McMurdo Sound sea ice is characterised by the unique ice type, platelet ice. This class of sea ice is generally observed adjacent to ice shelves where the parent waters have been supercooled by ice shelf contact at depth. We have been building a 3-dimensional computer model to simulate the growth of this platelet ice, focusing on the processes of platelet accretion and incorporation into the final structure of sea ice. The aim is to be able to infer platelet conditions at previous times in the year from the final structure of platelet ice.

David's MSc was awarded in 2009, and he then did a PhD in Engineering Science at the University of Auckland on modelling of geothermal reservoirs. He then did postdoctoral research in the USA at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Stanford University. He is now a Senior Lecturer at the University of Canterbury.