The Department of Earth Sciences welcomes you
to their Seminar Series featuring:
Dr. Feiyue (Fei) Wang
Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1)
Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba
Sea ice geochemistry and mineralogy
February 26, 2026 223 Wallace Building 1:00 PM
Willy Weeks (1929-2017) once stated that “sea ice is the one igneous rock that crystallizes from its melt at temperatures that humans can almost tolerate”; the crystallization process also occurs in places and at rates that can
be readily observed by humans. Under freezing temperatures, the highly saline sea-ice brine creates a unique environment where a series of minerals can be precipitated and crystallized rapidly, yet the occurrence of these minerals in sea ice and their significance
have only recently begun to be appreciated. Here, I will provide a synopsis of recent progress in sea ice geochemistry and mineralogy, and demonstrate how the University of Manitoba’s Sea-ice Environmental Research Facility (SERF) and Churchill Marine Observatory
(CMO) can be used for such studies. I especially look forward to discussions on how such a readily observable crystallization process may lend insight into the study of geochemistry and mineralogy in general.