Skip to content

About us


Information for

CPOM Staff based at UCL

Lucas Stone-Drake

email: ls cpom.ucl.ac.uk tel: 0207.679.4406
  fax: 0207.679.7883

In 2006 Lucas obtained a Planetary Science BSc (first class honours) from University College London. He was awarded a sessional prize for excellence in each year of study.  

His research project is entitled: "Experimental investigation of the flooding of snow-laden sea ice."

Project Overview

Sea ice acts as a partial barrier to the transport of heat, moisture and momentum between the ocean and atmosphere. Models of sea ice are used for regional and global climate prediction, but are typically developed with Arctic sea ice in mind. Certain processes are more important in the Antarctic. One such process is flooding, where the weight of snow on ice pushes the snow-ice interface below sea level. This causes the upward percolation of seawater througfh the ice, and subsequent flooding of the snow. Snow ice forms on freezing of the resultant slush, releasing salt and heat. Upward brine percolation and snow ice formation have a significant impact on snow and ice thermodynamics. The subsequent release of salt into the ocean can alter bouyancy forcing.  

Experiments will be used to simulate the flooding process. Snow will be placed on an ice layer grown from aqueous sodium chloride solution. To initiate flooding, additional solution from a reservoir tank will be added to the base of the tank via a connecting tube. The increased hydrostatic pressure will force solution upwards through the ice. The dynamics and thermodynamics of percolation through different fabrics of ice, and the formation of snow ice under various ambient conditions, will be investigated. More specifically, measurements of temperature and salinity will reveal aspects of heat and mass transfer. Analysis of my results will include an assessment of the importance of these transfers, most notably their effect on buoyancy forcing within the localised upper Antarctic Ocean. After appropriate adjustment I will use an existing sea ice model to make predictions at geophysical scales and for natural conditions. I will then explore the role of flooding and snow ice formation in the Southern Ocean by comparing the model predictions to other modelling and existing field observations.