Cryosphere Early Career Award

2005 Young Investigator Award Winner

Dr. Alan Rempel

Has been chosen to receive the 2005 Young Investigator Award for his significant contribution to Cryospheric Science and Technology.

This award was presented to Dr. Rempel during the Polar Reception at the Fall AGU meeting.

View Biography

The Cryosphere Section Young Investigator Award is given to Dr. Alan Rempel in recognition of his outstanding research achievements in the broad area of cryospheric science.

Dr. Rempel is a young scientist with excellent physical insights and a strong curiosity about the processes in the natural world. He is uniquely positioned to contribute to the quantitative understanding of cryospheric processes, based upon his background in mathematics, geophysics and engineering physics. This background has enabled Dr. Rempel to use powerful mathematical techniques when exploring complex geophysical problems. Dr. Rempel also has considerable experience as a working geophysicist, which helps him to identify worthwhile problems to address.

Dr. Rempel’s latest work has concerned investigating the underlying processes of frost heave (the geophysical mechanism by which large-scale swelling of water-saturated soils occurs during prolonged periods of freezing. This work has included the development of a new model for frost heave that takes into proper account the intermolecular forces driving the phenomenon and determines the conditions under which different modes of behavior occur. Dr. Rempel’s theoretical work on frost heaves underpins our evolving models of frost heave dynamics and the evolution of particulates in permafrost.

Selected Publications

Rempel, A.W., J.S. Wettlaufer and M.G. Worster, Premelting dynamics in a continuum model of frost heaveJournal of Fluid Mechanics498, 227-244, 2004.

Rempel, A.W. and J.S. Wettlaufer, Isotopic diffusion in polycrystalline iceJournal of Glaciology49, 397-406, 2003.

Rempel, A.W. and J.S. Wettlaufer, Segregation, transport and interaction of climate proxies in polycrystalline iceCanadian Journal of Physics81, 89-97, 2003.

Rempel, A.W., J.S. Wettlaufer and E.D. Waddington, Anomalous diffusion of multiple impurity species: predicted implications for the ice-core climate recordsJournal of Geophysical Research — Solid Earth107, 2330, doi:10.1029/2002JB001857, 2002.

Rempel, A.W., J.S. Wettlaufer and M.G. Worster, Interfacial premelting and the thermomolecular force: thermodynamic buoyancyPhysical Review Letters87, 088501, 2001.

Rempel, A.W., E.D. Waddington, J.S. Wettlaufer and M.G. Worster, Possible displacement of the climate signal in ancient ice by premelting and anomalous diffusionNature411, 568-571, 2001.

Rempel, A.W. and M.G. Worster, Particle trapping at an advancing solidification front with interfacial-curvature effectsJournal of Crystal Growth223, 420-432, 2001.