Ikaite crystals in melting sea ice – implications for <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub> and pH levels in Arctic surface waters
Søren RysgaardRonnie N. GludK. LennertM. A. CooperN. M. HaldenR. J. G. LeakeyF. C. HawthorneDavid G. Barber
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Abstract. A major issue of Arctic marine science is to understand whether the Arctic Ocean is, or will be, a source or sink for air-sea CO2 exchange. This has been complicated by the recent discoveries of ikaite (CaCO3·6H2O) in Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, which indicate that multiple chemical transformations occur in sea ice with a possible effect on CO2 and pH conditions in surface waters. Here we report on biogeochemical conditions, microscopic examinations and x-ray diffraction analysis of single crystals from an actively melting 1.7 km2 (0.5–1 m thick) drifting ice floe in the Fram Strait during summer. Our findings show that ikaite crystals are present throughout the sea ice but with larger crystals appearing in the upper ice layers. Ikaite crystals placed at elevated temperatures gradually disintegrated into smaller crystallites and dissolved. During our field campaign in late June, melt reduced the ice flow thickness by ca. 0.2 m per week and resulted in an estimated 1.6 ppm decrease of pCO2 in the ocean surface mixed layer. This corresponds to an air-sea CO2 uptake of 11 mmol m−2 sea ice d−1 or to 3.5 ton km−2 ice floe week−1.Keywords:
Biogeochemical Cycle
The first Korean-made icebreaking research vessel 'ARAON' had her second sea ice trial in the Arctic Ocean during the summer season of 2010. This paper describes the test procedures to obtain sea ice data which provides basic information to ship's performance in ice-covered sea and estimate the correct ice load/resistance on the IBRV ARAON. The data gathered from sea ice in Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea during the Arctic voyage of ARAON includes ice thickness, temperature, density and salinity of sea ice as well as ice strength data. This paper analyses the gathered Arctic sea ice data compared to those from the first voyage of ARAON during her Antarctic Sea ice trial.
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Observations during February and March 1980 of structures in 66 separate floes in Weddell Sea pack ice show widespread occurrence of frazil ice in amounts not previously reported in sea ice of comparable age and thickness in the Arctic. It is estimated that as much as 50% of the total ice production in the Weddell Sea is generated as frazil. Average floe salinities also appear higher than those of their Arctic counterparts. Comparative studies of fast ice at 28 locations in McMurdo Sound show this ice to be composed almost entirely of congelation ice that exhibits crystalline textures and orientations that are similar to those observed in Arctic fast ice. However, average fast-ice salinities in McMurdo Sound are higher than those reported for Arctic fast ice of comparable age and thickness.
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Observations during February and March 1980 of structures in 66 separate floes in Weddell Sea pack ice show widespread occurrence of frazil ice in amounts not previously reported in sea ice of comparable age and thickness in the Arctic. It is estimated that as much as 50% of the total ice production in the Weddell Sea is generated as frazil. Average floe salinities also appear higher than those of their Arctic counterparts. Comparative studies of fast ice at 28 locations in McMurdo Sound show this ice to be composed almost entirely of congelation ice that exhibits crystalline textures and orientations that are similar to those observed in Arctic fast ice. However, average fast-ice salinities in McMurdo Sound are higher than those reported for Arctic fast ice of comparable age and thickness.
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Abstract. The Arctic sea ice extent throughout the melt season is closely associated with initial sea ice state in winter and spring. Sea ice leads are important sites of energy fluxes in the Arctic Ocean, which may play an important role in the evolution of Arctic sea ice. In this study, we examine the potential of sea ice leads as a predictor for summer Arctic sea ice extent forecast using a recently developed daily sea ice lead product retrieved from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Our results show that July pan-Arctic sea ice extent can be predicted from the area of sea ice leads integrated from midwinter to late spring, with a prediction error of 0.28 million km2 that is smaller than the standard deviation of the observed interannual variability. However, the predictive skills for August and September pan-Arctic sea ice extent are very low. When the area of sea ice leads integrated in the Atlantic and central and west Siberian sector of the Arctic is used, it has a significantly strong relationship (high predictability) with both July and August sea ice extent in the Atlantic and central and west Siberian sector of the Arctic. Thus, the realistic representation of sea ice leads (e.g., the areal coverage) in numerical prediction systems might improve the skill of forecast in the Arctic region.
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A new record minimum in summer sea ice extent was set in 2007 and an unusual polynya formed in the Beaufort Sea ice cover during the summer of 2006. Using a combination of visual observations from cruises, ice drift, and satellite passive microwave sea ice concentration, we show that ice dynamics during preceding years included events that preconditioned the Beaufort ice pack for the unusual patterns of opening observed in both summers. Intrusions of first year ice from the Chukchi Sea to the Northern Beaufort, and increased pole‐ward ice transport from the western Arctic during summer has led to reduced replenishment of multiyear ice, older than five years, in the western Beaufort, resulting in a younger, thinner ice pack in most of the Beaufort. We find ice younger than five years melts out completely by the end of summer, south of 76N. The 2006 unusual polynya was bounded to the south by an ice tongue composed of sea ice older than 5 years, and formed when first year and second year ice melted between 76N and the older ice to the south. In this paper we demonstrate that a recent shift in ice circulation patterns in the western Arctic preconditions the Beaufort ice pack for increased seasonal ice zone extent.
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Abstract : During February and March 1980 the physical properties of Weddell Sea pack ice were investigated via core drilling of 66 floes located along the transect of 600 nautical miles from 64 deg S to 74 deg S latitude at roughly 40 deg W longitude. These studies revealed widespread frazil ice in amounts not known to exist in Arctic sea ice of comparable age and thickness. It is estimated from structure studies of 62 of the 66 floes that 54% of the total ice production of the Weddell Sea is generated as frazil. The disposition and exceptional thickness of the frazil show that mechanisms other than surface turbulence effects are involved and imply that the circulation and structure of the water in the upper levels pf the Weddell Sea are significantly different from those in the Arctic basin. Salinities of both first-year and multi-year floes are notably higher than those of their Arctic counterparts because summer surface melting is rare or absent in the Weddell Sea; in the Arctic, downward percolating meltwater flushes through the ice and lowers its salinity. Fluorescence was evaluated as a means of revealing biological activity in Weddell Sea pack ice. It proved useful as an index of combined living and dead material in the ice, but measurements failed to establish any consistent relationship between fluorescence and salinity as suggested be earlier work in the Weddell Sea.
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Abstract. The Arctic sea ice extent throughout the melt season is closely associated with initial sea ice state in winter and spring. Sea ice leads are important sites of energy fluxes in the Arctic Ocean, which may play an important role in the evolution of Arctic sea ice. In this study, we examine the potential of sea ice leads as a predictor for seasonal Arctic sea ice extent forecast using a recently developed daily sea ice leads product retrieved from Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. Our results show that July pan-Arctic sea ice extent can be accurately predicted from the area of sea ice leads integrated from mid-winter to late spring. However, the predictive skills for August and September pan-Arctic sea ice extent are very low. When the area of sea ice leads integrated in the Atlantic and central and west Siberian sector of the Arctic is used, it has a significantly strong relationship (high predictability) with both July and August sea ice extent in the Atlantic and central and west Siberian sector of the Arctic. Thus, the realistic representation of sea ice leads (e.g., the areal coverage) in numerical prediction systems might improve the skill of forecast in the Arctic region.
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Results from a numerical model simulation show significant changes in the dynamic properties of Arctic sea ice during 2007–2011 compared to the 1979–2006 mean. These changes are linked to a 33% reduction in sea ice volume, with decreasing ice concentration, mostly in the marginal seas, and decreasing ice thickness over the entire Arctic, particularly in the western Arctic. The decline in ice volume results in a 37% decrease in ice mechanical strength and 31% in internal ice interaction force, which in turn leads to an increase in ice speed (13%) and deformation rates (17%). The increasing ice speed has the tendency to drive more ice out of the Arctic. However, ice volume export is reduced because the rate of decrease in ice thickness is greater than the rate of increase in ice speed, thus retarding the decline of Arctic sea ice volume. Ice deformation increases the most in fall and least in summer. Thus the effect of changes in ice deformation on the ice cover is likely strong in fall and weak in summer. The increase in ice deformation boosts ridged ice production in parts of the central Arctic near the Canadian Archipelago and Greenland in winter and early spring, but the average ridged ice production is reduced because less ice is available for ridging in most of the marginal seas in fall. The overall decrease in ridged ice production contributes to the demise of thicker, older ice. As the ice cover becomes thinner and weaker, ice motion approaches a state of free drift in summer and beyond and is therefore more susceptible to changes in wind forcing. This is likely to make seasonal or shorter‐term forecasts of sea ice edge locations more challenging.
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