Premelting and phase changes in porous media; mechanics and physics of ice, glaciers and subglacial beds; gas hydrates and submarine slope stability; strength evolution along faults; pore-fluid interactions; deformation and failure of granular materials in seismic and surficial processes; dynamics of solidifying lava flows.

Links to: a biographical sketch, publications.

My research is directed towards understanding the fundamental interactions that govern a broad spectrum of natural processes. Much of this work centers on the fluid mechanics, solid mechanics and thermodynamics that control interactions between solids and fluids, especially near the melting transition. I am particularly interested in problems that span a range of length and time scales, often motivating the development of homogenized models to translate from the microscopic distances over which the controlling physical interactions operate, to the much larger scales at which their effects are observed. Current work is focused on solid-fluid interactions along faults during earthquakes and slow-slip events; the controls on glacier sliding that result in sediment entrainment and landscape evolution; the development of gas hydrate anomalies and their implications for submarine slope stability and pockmark formation; multiphase shear and transitions between distributed (viscous) and localized (frictional) deformation mechanisms, with application to fault mechanics and solidifying lava flows; segregation and transport processes during solidification and melting in porous media on Earth and Mars; and passive strategies for thermal storage and timed heat release in the built environment (in collaboration with Alexandra Rempel).

Publications:

• Rempel, A.W., D.D. Hansen, L.K. Zoet, and C.R. Meyer. Diffuse debris entrainment in glacier, lab and model environments. Annals of Glaciology, 2023.
• Meyer, C.R., C. Schoof, and A.W. Rempel. A thermomechanical model for frost heave and subglacial frozen fringe. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 964, A42, 2023.
• Style, R.W., D. Gerber, A. W. Rempel, and E.R. Defresne. The generalized Clapeyron equation and its application to confined ice growth. Journal of Glaciology, 2023.
• Rempel, A.R., J. Danis, A.W. Rempel, M. Fowler, and S. Mishra. Improving the passive survivability of residential buildings during extreme heat events in the Pacific Northwest. Applied Energy, 321, 2022.
• Lei, P., M.W. Young, J.D. Seymour, D.E. Stillman, K. Primm, H.G. Sizemore, A.W. Rempel, and S.L. Codd. NMR Characterization of unfrozen brine vein distribution and structure in model packed beds. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 199, 2022.
• Chen, J., Mei, S., and A.W. Rempel. Estimating permeability of partially frozen soil using floating random walks. Water Resources Research, 57, e2021WR030598, 2022.
• Rempel, A.W., C.R. Meyer, and K.L. Riverman. Melting temperature changes during slip across subglacial cavities drive basal mass exchange. Journal of Glaciology, 68, 197-203, 2022.
• Gajek, W., D. Gräff, S. Hellmann, A. W. Rempel, and F. Walter. Diurnal expansion and contraction of englacial fracture networks revealed by seismic shear wave splitting. Communications Earth & Environment, 2, 209, 2021.
• Rempel, A.R., A.W. Rempel, S. Duffey, S.M. McComas, C. Enright, and S. Mishra. Magnitude and distribution of the untapped solar space-heating resource in U.S. climates. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 151, 111599, 2021.
• Hunter, P., C.R. Meyer, B.M. Minchew, M. Haseloff, and A.W. Rempel. Thermal controls on ice stream shear margins. Journal of Glaciology, 67(263), 435-449, 2021.
• Marshall, J.A., J.J. Roering, S.L. Shafer, P.J. Bartlein, and A.W. Rempel. Extensive frost weathering across unglaciated North America during the Last Glacial Maximum. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(5), e2020GL090305, 2021.
• Chen, J., A.W. Rempel, and S. Mei. A Monte Carlo model of gas-liquid-hydrate three-phase coexistence constrained by pore geometry in marine sediments. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, 718, 2021.
• Chen, J., S. Mei, J.T. Irizarry, and A. W. Rempel. A Monte Carlo approach to approximating the effects of pore geometry on the phase behavior of soil freezing, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, doi:10.1029/2020MS002117, 2020.
• Meyer, C. R., A. A. Robel, and A. W. Rempel, Frozen fringe explains sediment freeze-on during Heinrich events, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 524, 115725, 2019.
• Rempel, A. W., and A. R. Rempel, Frost resilience of stabilized earth building materials, Geosciences, 9, 328, 2019.
• Rempel, A. W., and C. R. Meyer, Premelting increases the rate of regelation by an order of magnitude, Journal of Glaciology, 65, 518-521, 2019.
• Lipovsky, B. P., C. R. Meyer, L. K. Zoet, C. McCarthy, D. D. Hansen, A. W. Rempel, and F. Gimbert, Glacier sliding, seismicity, and sediment entrainment, Annals of Glaciology, 60, 181-192, 2019.
• Rempel, A. W., and I. N. Bindeman, A model for the development of stable isotopic water signatures of tephra deposited on ice following subglacial caldera collapse, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 377, 131-145, 2019.
• Minchew, B. M., C. R. Meyer, S. S. Pegler, B. P. Lipovsky, A. W. Rempel, G. H. Gudmundsson, and N. R. Iverson, Comment on "Friction at the bed does not control fast glacier flow", Science, 363(6427), 2019.
• Meyer, C. R., A. S. Downey, and A. W. Rempel, Freeze-on limits bed strength beneath sliding glaciers, Nature Communications, 9, 3242, 2018.
• VanderBeek, B. P., and A. W. Rempel, On the Importance of Advective Versus Diffusive Transport in Controlling the Distribution of Methane Hydrate in Heterogeneous Marine Sediments, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 123, 5394-5411, 2018.
• Bletery, Q., A. M. Thomas, A. W. Rempel, and J. L. Hardebeck, Imaging shear strength along subduction faults, Geophysical Research Letters, 44, doi:10.1002/2017GL075501, 2017.
• Bletery, Q., A. M. Thomas, J. C. Hawthorne, R. M. Skarbek, A. W. Rempel, and R. D. Krogstad, Characteristics of secondary slip fronts associated with slow earthquakes in Cascadia, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 463, 212-220, 2017.
• Handwerger, A. L., A. W. Rempel, and R. M. Skarbek, Submarine landslides triggered by destabilization of high-saturation hydrate anomalies, G-cubed, 18(7), 2429-2445, 2017.
• Skarbek, R.M., and A. W. Rempel, Heterogeneous Coulomb wedges: Influence of fluid pressure, porosity, and application to the Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 122(3), 1585-1613, 2017.
• Bletery, Q., A.M. Thomas, A.W. Rempel, L. Karlstrom, A. Sladen and L. DeBarros, Mega-earthquakes rupture flat magathrusts, Science, 354, 1027-1031, 2016.
• Rempel, A.R. and A.W. Rempel, Intrinsic evaporative cooling by hygroscopic Earth materials, Geosciences, 6, 38, 2016.
• Rempel, A.W., J.A. Marshall and J.J. Roering, Modeling relative frost weathering rates at geomorphic scales, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 453, 87-95, 2016.
• Handwerger, A.L., A.W. Rempel, R.M. Skarbek, J.J. Roering and G.E. Hilley, Rate-weakening friction characterizes both slow sliding and catastrophic failure of landslides, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113, 10,281-10,286, 2016.
• Skarbek, R.M. and A.W. Rempel, Dehydration-induced porosity waves and episodic tremor and slip, G-cubed, doi:10.1002/2015GC006155, 2016.
• Rempel, A.R., A.W. Rempel, K. Gates and B. Shaw, Climate-responsive thermal mass design for Pacific Northwest sunspaces, Renewable Energy, 95, 981-993, 2016.
• Marshall, J.A., J.J. Roering, P.J. Bartlein, D.G. Gavin, D.E. Granger, A.W. Rempel, S. Praskievicz and T.C. Hales, Frost for the trees: Did climate increase erosion in unglaciated landscapes during the late Pleistocene?, Science Advances, 1, e1500715, 2015.
• Chen, J. and A.W. Rempel, Shear zone broadening controlled by thermal pressurization and poroelastic effects during model earthquakes, Journal of Geophysical Research, 120(7), 5215-5237, 2015.
• Handwerger, A.L., J.R. Roering, D.A. Schmidt and A.W. Rempel, Kinematics of earthflows in the Northern California Coast Ranges using satellite interferometry, Geomorphology, 246, 321-333, 2015.
• Sizemore, H.G., A.P. Zent and A.W. Rempel, Initiation and growth of Martian ice lenses, Icarus, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.04.013, 251, 191-210, 2015.
• Saruya, T., A.W. Rempel, and K. Kurita, Hydrodynamic transitions with changing particle size that control ice lens growth, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 118(47) 13,420-32,426, doi:10.1021/jp505366y, 2014.
• Saruya, T., K. Kurita, and A.W. Rempel, Indirect measurements of interfacial melting from macroscopic ice observations, Physical Review E, 89, 060501(R), 2014.
• Chen, J. and A.W. Rempel, Progressive flash heating and the evolution of high-velocity rock friction, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 119, doi:10.1002/2013JB010631, 2014.
• Saruya, T., K. Kurita and A.W. Rempel, Experimental constraints on the kinetics of ice lens initiation and growth, Physical Review E, 87, 032404, 2013.
• Booth, A.M., J. J. Roering and A.W. Rempel, Topographic signatures of deep-seated landslides and a general landscape evolution model, Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, 118, doi:10.1002/jgrf.20051, 2013.
• Rempel, A.R. and A.W. Rempel, Rocks, clays, water, and salts: Highly durable, infinitely rechargeable, eminently controllable thermal batteries for buildings, Geosciences, 3, 63-101, 2013.
• Rempel, A.R., A.W. Rempel, K.V. Cashman, K. Gates, C.J. Page and B. Shaw, Interpretation of passive solar field data with EnergyPlus models: Un-conventional wisdom from four sunspaces in Eugene, Oregon, Building and Environment, 60, 158-172, 2013.
• Skarbek, R.M., A.W. Rempel and D.A. Schmidt, Geologic heterogeneity can produce aseismic slip transients, Geophysical Research Letters, 39, L21306, doi10.1029/2012GL053762, 2012.
• Rempel, A.W., Hydro-mechanical processes in freezing soils (invited review), Vadose Zone Journal, 11, doi:10.2136/vzj2012.0045, 2012.
• Schneider, A., A. W. Rempel and K. V. Cashman, Conduit degassing and thermal controls on eruption styles at Mount St. Helens, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 357-8, 347-354, 2012.
• Fauria, K. E. and A. W. Rempel, Gas invasion into water-saturated, unconsolidated porous media: Implications for gas hydrate reservoirs, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 312, 188-193, 2011.
• Rempel, A. W., A model for the diffusive growth of hydrate saturation anomalies in layered sediments, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 116, B10105, doi:10.1029/2011JB008484, 2011.
• Rempel, A. W., Microscopic and environmental controls on the spacing and thickness of segregated ice lenses, Quaternary Research, 75, 316-324, 2011.
• Rempel, A. W., Frost heave, Journal of Glaciology, 56(200), 1122-1128, 2010.
• Belien, I. B., K. V. Cashman and A. W. Rempel, Gas accumulation in particle-rich suspensions and implications for bubble populations in crystal-rich magma, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 297, 133-140, 2010.
• Rempel, A. W., Transient effective stress variations forced by changes in conduit pressure beneath glaciers and ice sheets, Annals of Glaciology, 50(52), 61-66, 2009.
• Rempel, A. W., Effective stress profiles and seepage flows beneath glaciers and ice sheets, Journal of Glaciology, 55, 431-443, 2009.
• Rempel, A. W. and S. L. Weaver, A model for flash weakening by asperity melting during high-speed earthquake slip, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 113, B11308, doi:10.1029/2008JB005649, 2008.
• Rempel, A. W., A theory for ice–till interactions and sediment entrainment beneath glaciers, Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, 113, F01013, doi:10.1029/2007JF000870, 2008.
• Emerson, L. F. and A. W. Rempel, Thresholds in the sliding resistance of simulated basal ice, The Cryosphere, 1, 11-19, 2007.
• Rempel, A. W., J. S. Wettlaufer and M. G. Worster, Comment on "A quantitative framework for interpretation of basal ice facies formed by ice accretion over subglacial sediment" by Poul Christoffersen et al., Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, 112, F02036, doi:10.1029/2006JF000701, 2007.
• Rempel, A. W., The formation of ice lenses and frost heave, Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, 112, F02S21, doi:10.1029/2006JF000525, 2007.
• Rempel, A. W., The effects of flash-weakening and damage on the evolution of fault strength and temperature, AGU Monograph on Radiated Energy and the Physics of Earthquake Faulting, 263-270, 2006.
• Rempel, A. W. and J. R. Rice, Thermal pressurization and onset of melting in fault zones, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 111, B09314, doi:10.1029/2006JB004314, 2006.
• Dash, J. G., A. W. Rempel and J. S. Wettlaufer, The physics of premelted ice and its geophysical consequences, Reviews of Modern Physics, 78(3), 695-741, 2006.
• Rempel, A. W., Englacial phase changes and intergranular flow above subglacial lakes, Annals of Glaciology, 40, 191-194, 2005.
• Rempel, A. W., J. S. Wettlaufer and M. G. Worster, Premelting dynamics in a continuum model of frost heave, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 498, 227-244, 2004.
• Rempel, A. W. and J. S. Wettlaufer, Isotopic diffusion in polycrystalline ice, Journal of Glaciology,49, 397-406, 2003.
• Rempel, A. W. and J. S. Wettlaufer,Segregation, transport and interaction of climate proxies in polycrystalline ice, Canadian Journal of Physics, 81, 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 records, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 107,2330, doi:10.1029/2002JB001857, 2002.
• Rempel, A. W., J. S. Wettlaufer and M. G. Worster, Interfacial premelting and the thermomolecular force: thermodynamic buoyancy, Physical Review Letters, 87, 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 diffusion, Nature, 411, 568-571, 2001.
• Rempel, A.W. and M.G. Worster, Particle trapping at an advancing solidification front with interfacial-curvature effects, Journal of Crystal Growth, 223, 420-432, 2001.
• Rempel, A. W. and M. G. Worster, The interaction between a particle and an advancing solidification front, Journal of Crystal Growth, 205, 427-440, 1999.
• Rempel, A. W. and B. A. Buffett, Mathematical models of gas hydrate accumulation, In: Gas Hydrates, Henriet, J.-P. and J. Mienert (eds.), Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 137, 63-74, 1998.
• Rempel, A. W. and B. A. Buffett, Formation and accumulation of gas hydrate in porous media, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 102, 10151-10164, 1997.

Top

Alumni:

• Andrew Schneider, MSc. 2009, thesis: Constraints on eruption dynamics, Mount St. Helens, WA, 2004-2008 (see Schneider et al., 2012)
• Kristen Fauria, BSc. 2010, honors thesis: Mechanisms of gas transport through sediment: Implications for the gas hydrate stability zone (see Fauria and Rempel, 2011).
• Laura van Alst, MSc. 2011, thesis: Laboratory experiments in cold temperature rock deformation (see Rempel and van Alst, BIOT-5, 2013).
• Sara Papamarcos, MSc. 2012, thesis: A model of basal hydrologic networks and effective stress beneath an ice sheet.
• Jiangzhi (Arthur) Chen, PhD 2014, thesis: Evolution of fault strength from microscopic asperity scale to macroscopic fault zone scale (see Chen and Rempel, 2014, 2015).
• Alexander Handwerger, PhD 2015 (co-advised with Josh Roering), thesis: Controls on the kinematics of slow-moving landslides from satellite radar interferometry and mechanical modeling (see Handwerger et al., 2013, Handwerger and Rempel, 2014, Handwerger et al., 2015, 2016, 2017).
• Julia Irizarry, MSc. 2015, thesis: Modeling the effects of three-dimensional pore geometry on gas hydrate phase stability (see Irizarry and Rempel, 2014).
• Rob Skarbek, PhD 2015 (co-advised with David Schmidt), thesis: Modeling the effects of geologic heterogeneity and metamorphic dehydration on slow slip and shallow deformation in subduction zones (see Skarbek et al., 2012, Skarbek and Rempel 2013, Skarbek et al., 2014, Skarbek and Rempel 2016).
• Brandon Vanderbeek, PhD 2018 (co-advised with Doug Toomey), thesis: New perspectives on mid-ocean ridge magmatic systems and deformation in the uppermost oceanic mantle from active- and passive-source seismic imaging in Cascadia. (see VanderBeek and Rempel, 2018)
• Quentin Bletery, Postdoctoral Researcher (co-advised with Amanda Thomas): episodic tremor and slip (see Bletery et al., 2016, 2017a, 2017b).
• Colin Meyer, Postdoctoral Researcher: glacial fluid dynamics and basal mechanics. (see Meyer et al., 2018, Minchew et al., 2019, Lipovsky et al., 2019, Rempel and Meyer, 2019, Meyer et al., 2019)
• Pierce Hunter, MSc. 2020, thesis: Quantifying the effects of lateral advection on shear margin thermomechanics (see Hunter et al., 2021).

Biographical sketch:

• Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, September 2015 - present.
• Associate Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, September 2009 - September 2015.
• Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, January 2005 - September 2009.
• Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, July 2003 - December 2004 (mentor Jim Rice).
• Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, July 2002 - June 2003 (mentor John Wettlaufer).
• Research Associate, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, June 2000 - June 2002 (mentor John Wettlaufer).

Education:

• Ph. D. (Applied Mathematics) University of Cambridge, 2000. Dissertation: The Dynamics of Premelted Films, with Geophysical Applications (advised by Grae Worster).
• M. Sc. (Geophysics) University of British Columbia, 1995. Dissertation: Theoretical and Experimental Investigations into the Formation and Accumulation of Gas Hydrates (advised by Bruce Buffett).
• B. A. Sc. (Engineering Physics) University of British Columbia, 1992.