[1] The fluid permeability k of sea ice constrains a broad range of processes, such as the growth and decay of seasonal ice, the evolution of summer ice albedo, and biomass build-up. Such processes are critical to how sea ice and associated ecosystems respond to climate change. However, studies of k and its dependence on brine porosity f and microstructure are sparse. Here we present a multifaceted theory for k(f) which closely captures laboratory and field data. X-ray computed tomography provides an unprecedented look at the brine phase and its connectivity. We find that sea ice displays universal transport properties remarkably similar to crustal rocks, yet over a much narrower temperature range. Our results yield simple parameterizations for fluid transport in terms of temperature and salinity, and permit more realistic representations of sea ice in global climate and biological models. Citation:

[1] We have imaged sea ice single crystals with X-ray computed tomography, and characterized the thermal evolution of the pore space with percolation theory. Between À18°C and À3°C the porosity ranged from 2 to 12% and we found arrays of near-parallel intracrystalline brine layers whose connectivity and complex morphology varied with temperature. We have computed key porosity-dependent functions of classical percolation theory directly from the thermally driven pore space evolution of an individual sample. This analysis is novel for a natural material and provides the first direct demonstration of a connectivity threshold in the brine microstructure of sea ice. In previous works this critical behavior has been inferred indirectly from bulk property measurements in polycrystalline samples. From a finite-size scaling analysis we find a vertical critical porosity p c,v = 4.6 ± 0.7%. We find lateral anisotropy with p c,pll = 9 ± 2% parallel to the layers and p c,perp = 14 ± 4% perpendicular to them. Lateral connectivity is established at higher brine volumes by the formation of thin necks between the brine layers. We relate these results to measured anisotropy in the bulk dc conductivity and fluid permeability using a dual porosity conceptual model. Our results shed new light on the complex microstructure of sea ice, highlighting single crystal anisotropy and a step toward a realistic transport property model for sea ice based on percolation theory. We present full experimental details of our imaging and segmentation methodology based on a phase relation formulation more widely applicable to ice-solute systems.

The Greenland GPS Network (GNET) uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to measure the displacement of bedrock exposed near the margins of the Greenland ice sheet. The entire network is uplifting in response to past and present-day changes in ice mass. Crustal displacement is largely accounted for by an annual oscillation superimposed on a sustained trend. The oscillation is driven by earth's elastic response to seasonal variations in ice mass and air mass (i.e., atmospheric pressure). Observed vertical velocities are higher and often much higher than predicted rates of postglacial rebound (PGR), implying that uplift is usually dominated by the solid earth's instantaneous elastic response to contemporary losses in ice mass rather than PGR. Superimposed on longer-term trends, an anomalous 'pulse' of uplift accumulated at many GNET stations during an approximate six-month period in 2010. This anomalous uplift is spatially correlated with the 2010 melting day anomaly.climate change | climate cycles | elasticity | crustal motion geodesy