Rachel Pang ’23, Physics

Rachel Pang ’23

Major

Physics

Project Title

Remote Sources of Oceanic Heat Delivery to the Ross Sea Continental Shelf

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies, Visual Arts

I worked on the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling (SOCCOM) project investigating the pathways that bring warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) to the Antarctic ice sheet where it is a primary cause of melting. Numerous studies have examined the mechanisms that transport CDW onto the continental shelf. However, less attention has been paid to the processes farther offshore that bring CDW from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to the shelf-break region in the first place, which is a necessary precursor to the cross-shelf heat exchange that has been studied in more depth. For our analysis, we complemented data from autonomous Biogeochemical-Argo floats deployed in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica with the Biogeochemical Southern Ocean State Estimate produced through SOCCOM. We found southeastward flowing CDW bifurcating around the Marie Byrd Seamounts toward the Ross and Amundsen continental shelves in narrow streams steered by topography. I developed a strong knowledge of computational programming as applied to ocean dynamics and physics. I became even more fascinated by oceanography and the complexity of the Southern Ocean, and I am excited to continue this work for my junior project.