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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

Breyten Breytenbach shares his words and philosophies
2013-03-05

 

Breyten Breytenbach
Photo: Johan Roux
02 March 2013

The Department of Philosophy at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted Breyten Breytenbach as part of its Colloquium series.

In a packed Odeion theatre, Breytenbach shared his words and views relating to poetry and philosophy. The session was chaired by Prof Pieter Duvenhage from the Department of Philosophy, who noted the symbiotic relationship which exists between the two seemingly distinct disciplines.

Breytenbach is one of South Africa’s best-known literary sons, gaining worldwide recognition for his writings and poetry, as well as his political activism against the erstwhile Apartheid regime. He left the country in 1960 due to Apartheid and settled in Paris where his first collection of poetry was published in 1964. It was the beginning of a prizewinning literary career spanning multiple languages and decades.

He returned illegally in 1975 in order to agitate against the repressive National Party government, but was arrested, spending seven years in prison after being charged with terrorism.

The audience was treated to a reading from an unpublished work from Breytenbach, A letter to my daughter. The lengthy letter outlined Breytenbach's world views, his sense of the creative process, his philosophies and his takes on current and historical events.

A large part of the letter focused on the philosophical and emotional processes involved in writing.“Writing is the travelling of its own landscape; landscapes and rooms that may always have been there,” he said.

He noted that it’s not always an easy process, and that sometimes writers need to explore the abysses, which can be unnerving.

“In this regard it is important to know that emptiness exists,” he said.

He stressed his concern over some of the problems the country currently faces, especially the abuse of state institutions. He was especially worried about the abuse of power. He warned that “power has its own predatory identity,” often abused and misused by those who wield it.

Despite his misgivings, Breytenbach still retains his optimism for the country and its people. He remarked that the country and its many diverse cultures resembles a “fantastic patchwork blanket,” one that should be cherished and protected.

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