Sea ice, which covers a significant portion of the earth's surface, is an interestingly complicated material consisting of a mixture of solid ice and liquid brine phases which are coupled by thermodynamic considerations, Among other things, sea ice plays an important role in regulating macroscale heat transport between the ocean and the atmosphere. It also is a platform for microbial life, lots of it in fact, that uses the ice as a sort of shelter though eventually becoming part of the local food chain. A model will be presented that hypothesizes that, in turn, the resident microbial population might impact sea ice structure and, in particular, its transport properties including heat transport.

Join us for the first Temple Math Club meeting of the semester! This meeting will involve a Math Jeopardy competition, an opportunity to meet other students, and, of course, free pizza!