The Star: May 31, 2018

Community
5
In early 2019, University of Canterbury
researchers will be part of an international
effort to explore one of the coldest,
harshest and most remote locations in the
world: the Weddell Sea off Antarctica.
In January and February 2019, a major,
45-day, international scientific expedition
– the Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 –
aims to survey sea ice, the underside of
the Larsen C Ice Shelf, document the
rich and little-studied marine life of the
western Weddell Sea ecosystem, and
locate the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s
ship ‘Endurance’, which was trapped and
crushed by the ice and sank there in 1915.
An international team of researchers
from the University of Canterbury
(UC), the University of Cambridge,
the Nekton Foundation, and two
South African universities – including
glaciologists, marine geologists, marine
biologists, oceanographers and marine
archaeologists – will use autonomous
underwater vehicles (AUVs) to
survey the sea floor down to
beyond 3,000 metres, study
cavities on the underside
of the ice shelf, and
search for the wreck of
the ‘Endurance’.
UC Glaciologist
and Remote Sensing
expert, Associate
Professor Wolfgang
Rack of Gateway
Antarctica, UC’s
Centre for Antarctic
Studies and Research,
will be a vital part of the
expedition.
“The international science
community noticed our knowhow,
and that’s why we were invited to
participate in this icebreaker cruise. It
is great recognition for New Zealand’s
scientific achievements and ability.”
Co-ordinating with the underwater
research and survey work, Professor Rack
and his UC Gateway Antarctica team, will
use specially equipped aerial drones to
measure sea ice thickness and snow depth,
and will also assist with the navigation
of the ‘S.A. Agulhas II’ through the
pack ice in the Weddell Sea. The drone
measurements will be coordinated with
data from an upward-looking AUV to
give a better understanding of the sea ice.
The UC drones will be operated by a pilot
from UC’s Spatial Engineering Research
Centre.
“As part of the Deep South National
Science Challenge, the Spatial Engineering
Research Centre at UC developed a drone
radar prototype with Lincoln Agritech
which allows us to measure snow on sea
ice. This is key to estimating ice thickness
using satellites, which is what we are going
to test during this scientific expedition,”
Professor Rack says.
Antarctica has about 1.5 million square
kilometres of floating ice shelves, which
have been surveyed and studied from
above, but only very rarely from beneath.
Many of these ice shelves are thinning and
UC SCIENtIStS
INvItED oN
International Antarctic
Expedition
retreating rapidly, possibly impacting sea
ice, and making scientific investigations
here very timely. The Larsen A and B ice
shelves collapsed suddenly in a matter of
days in 1995 and 2002, respectively, and
one of the biggest iceberg calving events
ever recorded took place from Larsen C
Ice Shelf in July 2017. Sea ice extent in
this area seems to be stable, seemingly
a climate paradox which is going to be
investigated during this voyage.
The Weddell Sea has been nominated
as a large, international Marine Protected
Area, so the expedition will gather vital
baseline data on the rare and little-studied
species which inhabit this icy ecosystem,
as well as studying the key physical
processes driving changes in the region’s
sea ice, ocean currents and the fringing ice
shelves.
Funded by a charitable trust in
the Netherlands, The Flotilla
Foundation, the Weddell
Sea Expedition 2019
has a pioneering
programme of science
and exploration
planned, led by
Professor Julian
Dowdeswell, Director
of the Scott Polar
Research Institute at
Cambridge University,
who visited UC earlier
this year as a Cambridge
Visiting Fellow.
“This expedition will give us an
unprecedented opportunity to investigate
and explore the complex interplay
between ice shelves, sea ice, and ocean in
one of the most remote, and least studied
places on our planet,” Professor Rack says.
The Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 aims
to inspire young people about science,
engineering and technology, and the
protection of Antarctica, and is partnering
with the Royal Geographical Society to
ensure that the expedition’s research and
findings are disseminated as widely as
possible to schools and students around
the world.
About gateway
Antarctica
Gateway Antarctica is the Centre for
Antarctic Studies and Research at the
University of Canterbury. The centre
plays a leading role in national and
international Antarctic research projects.
This includes areas such as engineering in
extreme environments, Antarctica’s role
in climate change, connections between
Antarctica and New Zealand and human
influences in and on Antarctica.
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