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03 November 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Dr Liezel Rudolph
Dr Liezel Rudolph, a lecturer in the Department of Geography, recently returned from an expedition to Gough Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, where she was involved in research that aims to better understand the landscape evolution of some subantarctic islands and their response to long-term climate change.
A study of subantarctic islands tells us that, in general, the Southern Hemisphere is experiencing a rise in temperature, with an increase in rainfall in some locations, and other areas becoming drier. The annual temperature and rainfall average remain the same in some places, but there is a change in seasonality and synoptic weather events.

This is according to Dr Liezel Rudolph, a lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of the Free State (UFS). She recently returned from an expedition to Gough Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, supported by the South African National Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the National Research Foundation, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

This teacher of modules on Process Geomorphology and fieldwork techniques at the UFS, says the objective of her work on the island was to do a geomorphological survey of the island and explore the suitability of geochronological dating techniques on the island’s substrate. 

She explains that with geochronological methods one can determine the age of rock material as well as the rate of landscape change on the island. “In other words, dating when the volcano was formed and determining how long it takes for weathering to break down the rock material, and erosional processes to remove soil material.”
 
The research she is involved in, forms part of a SANAP-NRF-funded project, Sub-Antarctic Landscape Climate Interactions, which aims to better understand the landscape evolution of some subantarctic Islands and their response to long-term climate change. 

Studying the past to understand the present

According to her, studying landscape change enables one to better understand climate change over a long period of time. 

She states that the more regions are investigated, the clearer the picture of climate change will become. “The Earth is a large, complex system. By studying climate change in one location, one cannot simply assume that the same type and rate of change is occurring everywhere else. It would be like imaging a 1 000-piece puzzle by building with 10 pieces. The Southern Hemisphere is predominantly ocean, which makes it difficult to pin down land-atmosphere interactions – but the subantarctic islands give us the opportunity to create data points for the Southern Hemisphere, which would otherwise be a very large missing piece of the puzzle,” explains Dr Rudolph.

She says the interaction between ocean, atmosphere, and land remains complex and it is important to study the entire picture in order to fully understand how this is happening. Especially since the climate is changing at a drastic rate.

Dr Rudolph, whose research at the UFS is focused on constraining the last glaciation of subantarctic Marion Island though various proxies and dating techniques, says the subantarctic islands are very sensitive to changes in climate. 

A clearer picture of climate change

She was part of previous expeditions to the island. Although all these expeditions had different goals, according to her, they all aimed to answer the same questions, which are how the island’s landscape has developed throughout history and what the climatic drivers were during its evolution. 

“The landscape responds to changes in temperature and precipitation. Under colder, wetter conditions – when the island’s surface is subject to a freeze-thaw process – a range of peri-glacial landforms will develop. These landforms will still be evident in the landscape years later under a different climate, for example, warmer or drier conditions. We can study these landforms in real-time and establish whether they are actively forming or are relict features that formed under different climatic environments,” remarks Dr Rudolph.

The research, which is taking place in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey, is co-led by Prof Werner Nel from the University of Fort Hare, and Prof David Hedding from the University of South Africa. 

• Dr Rudolph is grateful to the Government of Tristan da Cunha, which is responsible for managing the conservation of Gough Island, for permitting them to do scientific work on the island. 

News Archive

During 2011: Sport
2011-12-01

Our sports stars set their gaols high and with hard work, dedication a good measure of determination they show that they will not give up until these goals are met. A place in the national team or a medal or award in hand is enough proof that our Kovsie sportsmen and women are serious about their successes on the sports field.

 Description: 2011 Sport_Cricket Tags: 2011 Sport_Cricket  Description: 2011 Sport_Karate Tags: 2011 Sport_Karate  Description: 2011 Sport_Hockey Tags: 2011 Sport_Hockey  Description: 2011 Sport_Netball Tags: 2011 Sport_Netball  Description: 2011 Sport_Rugby Tags: 2011 Sport_Rugby

Some of our stars this year were:

Athletics:

Thuso Mpuang, our Kovsie Sportsman of the year, represented South Africa during the World Athletic Championships in Deague, Korea. He obtained the silver medal in the 200m during the World Student Games in Shenzhen, China and a gold medal as a member of the 4 x 100m relay team.

Janette Siebert represented South Africa during the Southern Africa Championships in Maputo, Mozambique.

Boy Soke represented South Africa during the Africa Cross Country Championships in Cape Town. He also represented South Africa during the World Cross Country Championships in China.

Cricket:

The 21-year-old former Kovsie, Obus Pienaar, who was still playing cricket for our university club until the end of the season (end of March), has been playing abroad for the Irish cricket club Waringstown from the end of April 2011.
We are proud of Obus’ achievements, in particular his contribution to the match against the CIYMS. During this game, Obus hit the highest score ever in the Northern Cricket Unions when he scored 244 runs in only 114 balls. This included 22 sixes and 13 fours. During his innings in this match, Obus also broke the July 2004 record of his compatriot, AB de Villiers of the Proteas.

Hockey:

Lesley Ann George represented the Protea Women’s Hockey Team during the series against China, Belgium and Azerbaijan. She was also a member of the Protea Women’s Hockey Team during the Champs Challenge in Ireland. The team finished fifth.

Nicole de Vries represented the Protea Women’s Hockey Team during the series against China, Belgium and Azerbaijan. She was also a member of the Protea Women’s Hockey Team during the Africa Cup in Bulawayo. The team obtained a gold medal.

Hettie Oosthuizen represented the Protea Women’s Hockey Team during the series against China, Belgium and Azerbaijan.

Izelle Lategan represented the Protea Women’s Hockey Team during the series against China, Belgium and Azerbaijan.

Nicole Kemp was a member of the Protea Women’s Hockey Team during the Africa Cup in Bulawayo. The team obtained a gold medal.

Karate:

Elsabe le Roux was a member of the Protea JKA Shotokan Karate Team that participated in the Africa Zone 6 Championships in Maputo where she obtained a gold and silver medal.

Bruno Schwalbach was a member of the Protea JKA Shotokan Karate Team that participated in the Africa Zone 6 Championships in Maputo where he obtained two gold medals. He was also a member of the Protea JKA Shotokan Karate Team that participated in the Common Wealth Karate Championship in Australia where he obtained one silver and two bronze medals. He was a member of the Protea JKA Shotokan Karate Team that participated in the All Africa Games in Maputo Mozambique where he obtained a bronze medal.

Balungile Nchofe was a member of the Protea JKA Shotokan Karate Team that participated in the Africa Zone 6 Championship in Maputo, where he obtained a gold medal.

Netball:

Kovsies’ netball team has performed well over the past year with, amongst others, the inclusion of players in the SA Universities World-cup Group.

Karla Mostert and Maryka Holtzhausen participated during the World Cup in Singapore in the SPAR SA Protea team.

We are also proud of the eight players who have been included in the SA team. They are Zimari Smit, Sheri Duimpies, Ane Botha, Danique du Toit, Nieke Loubser, Karla Mostert, Fikile Mkhuzangwe and Lauren-lee Christians.

At the SA tournament, Ane Botha was named as the centre-court player of the tournament, whilst Karla Mostert was named as the best defending player. Karla has also been included in the SPAR SA Protea team to the All African Games, which start in Mozambique at the end of August.

Rugby:

Boom Prinsloo and Robert Ebershohn are representing the Springboks in the HSBC Sevens World Series.

Soccer:

Gabisile Hlumbane, our Kovsie Sportswomanof the year, is a member of the Banyana Banyana National Soccer Team. The team obtained a bronze medal at the African Women’s Championships during October 2010, a gold medal at the Unity Cup Hosted during December 2010, a silver medal at the COSAFA Women’s Championship hosted during July 2011 and qualified for the London Olympics in 2012.

Squash:

Paul Rodrigues represented the South African U/ 23 team at the All Africa Squash Championships in Johannesburg.

Triathlon:

Nelmaré Loubser represented the SA Elite Team during the World Championships in Spain.

 

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