The Effect of Finite Heat Content and Thermal Diffusion on the Growth of a Sea-Ice Cover

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Schwerdtfeger, Peter
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1964
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Hudson Bay; Hudson; Journal of Glaciology; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000029051; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000029051

Abstract The practical analysis of the growth of a sea-ice cover is discussed with initial reference to the classical work of Stefan, whose basic equation connecting surface temperature with the growth of a uniform ice cover of negligible specific heat and hence infinite diffusivity is extended to cover “real” cases. The separate effects of a finite heat content and thermal diffusivity are derived theoretically and semi-empirically respectively, and combined in a more general ice-growth equation which is then tested in the analysis of annual sea-ice growth on Hudson Bay.