On the Physical Settings of Ice Bridge Formation in Nares Strait

Kirillov, Sergei; Babb, David G.; Komarov, Alexander S.; Dmitrenko, Igor; Ehn, Jens K.; Worden, Elizabeth; Candlish, L. M.; Rysgaard, Søren; Barber, David G.

doi:10.1029/2021jc017331

Cited by 14 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Kirillov et al. (2021) used a mixed data set of satellite images (MODIS/SAR) to analyze the formation of the ice arch at the Smith Sound during 2000/2001–2020/2021 and indicated that in most years the formation of the ice arch was 3 days (on the average) earlier than reported in Vincent (2019). This was caused by using different data and methods as well as changes in atmospheric and oceanic forcing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of Sea Ice Production in the North Water Polynya Based on Ice Arch Duration in Winter During 2006–2019

Ren

Shokr

et al. 2022

JGR Oceans

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Polynyas are mesoscale oceanic phenomena observed in polar regions during the sea ice freezing season. A polynya is an area composed of open water and thin ice, even when air temperature is well below freezing (Morales Maqueda et al., 2004). Formation of polynyas is driven by one or both of the following two mechanisms. The first mechanism, which is called the latent heat mechanism, is wind-driven, triggered by persistent strong wind that removes the ice as soon as it forms, leaving the ocean surface exposed to the freezing temperature. This can be widely found in the Antarctic sea ice region. The second mechanism, which is called the sensible heat mechanism, is driven by the upwelling of warm water that accelerates the melting of the existing ice and delays the formation of new ice (Morales Maqueda et al., 2004). Polynyas affect the physical, biological, and chemical processes operating at the atmosphere-ocean interface at local and regional scales (

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of Sea Ice Production in the North Water Polynya Based on Ice Arch Duration in Winter During 2006–2019

Ren

Shokr

et al. 2022

JGR Oceans

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“…for a relatively immobilized ice cover that coalesces under cold air temperatures, which is similar to the process that facilitates the formation of the ice bridge in Nares Strait (Kirillov et al, 2021). An estimated 24 cm of new ice rapidly forms on the western side of the channel and locks the bridge in place.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…An important factor for the consolidation of an ice bridge is the existence of an ice cover that is thick enough and therefore strong enough to oppose external forcing once it has consolidated (Sodhi, 1977;Kubat et al, 2006;Rallabandi et al, 2017;Kirillov et al, 2021). If the ice cover is too thin it may consolidate, but it will simply be too weak to oppose external forcing and break up once wind speeds increase.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Perhaps the most well-studied ice bridges within the Canadian Arctic are those found in Nares Strait, Jones Sound, and Lancaster Sound, where the bridges preclude the advection of thick multiyear ice from the high Arctic and Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) into northern Baffin Bay and thus maintain the North Water polynya (Kwok, 2005(Kwok, , 2007Agnew et al, 2008;Kwok et al, 2010;Vincent, 2019;Kirillov et al, 2021). There are several other ice bridges that form annually across narrow interisland straits within the CAA that limit ice transport into the CAA from the Arctic Ocean (Howell et al, 2015) and maintain polynyas or flaw leads along their leeward edge throughout winter (Hannah et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the Intermittent Formation of an Ice Bridge (Nunniq) across Roes Welcome Sound, Northwestern Hudson Bay, and Its Use to Local Inuit Hunters

Babb¹,

Kirillov²,

Kuzyk³

et al. 2022

ARCTIC

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Ice bridges are unique features that form when sea ice consolidates and remains immobilized within channels. They form in many locations throughout the Arctic and are typically noted for the polynyas that form on their lee side. However, ice bridges also provide a temporary platform that may be used by both humans and wildlife to cross otherwise impassable channels. For generations, Inuit in Coral Harbour, Nunavut, have used an ice bridge to cross Roes Welcome Sound and expand their hunting territory, though they report that the bridge only forms approximately every four years. Of interest both to Inuit and the scientific community is why the bridge forms so intermittently, by what mechanisms, and whether the frequency will change with ongoing warming and sea ice loss. Using satellite imagery, we determined that the bridge formed during 14 of the past 50 years (1971 – 2020). Generally, the bridge forms between January and March, during a cold period that coincides with neap tide, and after surface winds have rotated from the prevailing northerly (along-channel) winds to west-northwesterly (across-channel) winds. This rotation compresses the existing ice pack against Southampton Island, where it remains stationary because of the calm along-channel winds and low tidal range, and coalesces under cold air temperatures. Breakup occurs between mid-June and early July after the onset of melt. Overall, the bridge forms when a specific set of conditions occur simultaneously; however, a warming climate, specifically a reduction in very cold days, and shorter ice season may affect the frequency of bridge formation, thereby limiting Inuit travel.

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“…These results suggest that care must be taken when interpreting studies that use the ERA5 reanalysis to characterize the wind field's role in ice motion along the strait (Kirillov et al., 2021; Shokr et al., 2020). In particular, the ERA5's underestimation of both mean and extreme windspeeds along the strait is cause for concern as is its inability to represent features such as the gradient in windspeed across Kane Basin.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Resolution on the Representation of the Mean and Extreme Winds Along Nares Strait

Moore

Imrit

2022

JGR Atmospheres

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Nares Strait is the long and narrow strait bounded by steep topography that connects the Arctic Ocean's Lincoln Sea to the North Atlantic's Baffin Bay. The winds that blow along the strait play an important role in modulating ice and water exports from the Arctic Ocean as well as in helping to establish the Arctic's largest and most productive polynya that forms at its southern terminus. However, its remote location has limited our knowledge of the winds along the strait. Here we use weather station data from the region as well as two reanalyses and an operational analysis with nominal horizontal resolutions that vary from ∼30 to ∼2.5 km to characterize the wind field in the vicinity of the strait. The strait has a width that varies from ∼40 to ∼100 km and as such the wind field is typically ageostrophic and controlled by the pressure gradient in the along‐strait direction. We show that model resolution plays a role in the representation of both the mean and extreme winds along the strait through the ability to represent this ageostrophic flow. Higher windspeeds occur in the vicinity of Smith Sound and are associated with a left‐hand corner jet. Kane Basin, the widest section of the strait, is characterized by a gradient in windspeed with higher speeds in the center of the basin and lower winds in the eastern basin that is the result of sheltering by the steep topography of the upstream Washington Land peninsula.

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On the Physical Settings of Ice Bridge Formation in Nares Strait

Cited by 14 publications

References 38 publications

Estimation of Sea Ice Production in the North Water Polynya Based on Ice Arch Duration in Winter During 2006–2019

Estimation of Sea Ice Production in the North Water Polynya Based on Ice Arch Duration in Winter During 2006–2019

On the Intermittent Formation of an Ice Bridge (Nunniq) across Roes Welcome Sound, Northwestern Hudson Bay, and Its Use to Local Inuit Hunters

Impact of Resolution on the Representation of the Mean and Extreme Winds Along Nares Strait

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