Sea‐ice melting processes inferred from ice–upper ocean relationships in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Nihashi, Sohey

doi:10.1029/2003jc002235

Cited by 22 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Given that intra-pack melting within leads is an important seasonal driver of Antarctic sea ice retreat [62], we speculate that such a decrease in open water over much of the central pack (and late in the season in particular) may inhibit sea ice retreat. For example, increased mid-pack concentration (possibly due to increased ice convergence or lateral input of ice) reduces the amount of open water present, which in turn reduces melt within leads, delaying retreat [63].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Change and Variability in East Antarctic Sea Ice Seasonality, 1979/80–2009/10

et al. 2013

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Recent analyses have shown that significant changes have occurred in patterns of sea ice seasonality in West Antarctica since 1979, with wide-ranging climatic, biological and biogeochemical consequences. Here, we provide the first detailed report on long-term change and variability in annual timings of sea ice advance, retreat and resultant ice season duration in East Antarctica. These were calculated from satellite-derived ice concentration data for the period 1979/80 to 2009/10. The pattern of change in sea ice seasonality off East Antarctica comprises mixed signals on regional to local scales, with pockets of strongly positive and negative trends occurring in near juxtaposition in certain regions e.g., Prydz Bay. This pattern strongly reflects change and variability in different elements of the marine “icescape”, including fast ice, polynyas and the marginal ice zone. A trend towards shorter sea-ice duration (of 1 to 3 days per annum) occurs in fairly isolated pockets in the outer pack from∼95–110°E, and in various near-coastal areas that include an area of particularly strong and persistent change near Australia's Davis Station and between the Amery and West Ice Shelves. These areas are largely associated with coastal polynyas that are important as sites of enhanced sea ice production/melt. Areas of positive trend in ice season duration are more extensive, and include an extensive zone from 160–170°E (i.e., the western Ross Sea sector) and the near-coastal zone between 40–100°E. The East Antarctic pattern is considerably more complex than the well-documented trends in West Antarctica e.g., in the Antarctic Peninsula-Bellingshausen Sea and western Ross Sea sectors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Change and Variability in East Antarctic Sea Ice Seasonality, 1979/80–2009/10

et al. 2013

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“…In the Sea of Okhotsk, we can use thin-ice thickness from AMSR-E (Nihashi et al 2009) as well as the AMSR-E ice concentration for the heat flux calculation. This dataset is based on a daily heat budget analysis using ice concentration from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (EOS) (AMSR-E) on the Aqua satellite.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creation of a Heat and Salt Flux Dataset Associated with Sea Ice Production and Melting in the Sea of Okhotsk

2012

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Sea ice formation, its transport, and its melting cause the redistribution of heat and salt, which plays an important role in the climate and biogeochemical systems. In the Sea of Okhotsk, a heat and salt flux dataset is created in which such sea ice processes are included, with a spatial resolution of ;12.5 km. The dataset is based on a heat budget analysis using ice concentration, thickness, and drift speed from satellite observations and the ECMWF Interim Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) data. The salt flux calculation considers both salt supplied to the ocean from sea ice production and freshwater supplied when the ice melts. This dataset will be useful for the validation and boundary conditions of modeling studies. The spatial distribution of the annual fluxes shows a distinct contrast between north and south: significant ocean cooling with salt supply is shown in the northern coastal polynya region, while ocean heating with freshwater supply is shown in the south. This contrast suggests a transport of freshwater and negative heat by ice advection. The annual fluxes also show ocean cooling with freshwater supply in the Kashevarov Bank (KB) region and the central and eastern Sea of Okhotsk, suggesting the effect of warm water advection. In the ice melt season, relatively prominent ice melting is shown in the coastal polynya region, probably due to large solar heating of the upper ocean. This indicates that the polynya works as a ''meltwater factory'' in spring, contrasting with its role as an ''ice factory'' in winter. In the coastal polynya region, the spatial distribution of phytoplankton bloom roughly corresponds with the ice melt region.

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“…Recently, the importance of lateral melting has been pointed out for Antarctic sea ice in the melting season (e.g. Nihashi et al, 2005). Therefore, accurate knowledge about floe size distribution, especially for floes smaller than a few tens of meters, will significantly improve our understanding of the melting processes of sea ice.…”

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confidence: 99%

Size distribution and shape properties of relatively small sea-ice floes in the Antarctic marginal ice zone in late winter

Toyota

Haas

Tamura

2011

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

119

218

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In the marginal sea ice zone (MIZ), where relatively small ice floes are dominant, the floe size distribution is an important parameter affecting melt processes given the larger cumulative perimeter of multiple small floes compared with a single ice floe of the same area. Smaller ice floes are therefore subject to increased lateral melt. However, the available data have been very limited so far. Analysis of sea ice in the Sea of Okhotsk revealed that while floe size distribution is basically scale invariant, a regime shift occurs at a size of about 40 m. In order to extend this preliminary result to the Antarctic MIZ and further examine the controlling factors, the first concurrent ice floe size and ice thickness measurements were conducted in the northwestern Weddell Sea and off Wilkes Land (around 64°S, 117ºE) with a heli-borne digital video camera in the late winter of 2006 and 2007, respectively. The floe sizes ranged from 2 to 100 m. Our analysis shows: 1) the scale invariance and regime shift are confirmed in both regions; 2) the floe size at which regime shift occurs slightly increases from 20 to 40 m, with ice thickness, consistent with the theory of the flexural failure of sea ice; and 3) the aspect ratio is 1.6-1.9 on average, close to the previous results. Based on these results, the processes affecting the floe size distribution and the subsequent implications on melt processes are discussed.By applying a renormalization group method to interpret the scale invariance in floe size distribution, the fractal dimension is related to the fragility of sea ice. These results indicate the importance of wave-ice interaction in determining the floe size distribution.

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Sea‐ice melting processes inferred from ice–upper ocean relationships in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Cited by 22 publications

References 21 publications

Change and Variability in East Antarctic Sea Ice Seasonality, 1979/80–2009/10

Change and Variability in East Antarctic Sea Ice Seasonality, 1979/80–2009/10

Creation of a Heat and Salt Flux Dataset Associated with Sea Ice Production and Melting in the Sea of Okhotsk

Size distribution and shape properties of relatively small sea-ice floes in the Antarctic marginal ice zone in late winter

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