Structure of refrozen cracks in first-year sea ice

The structure of natural refrozen cracks in landfast first-year sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, is examined in Spring. The alignment of inclusions, crystal structure, and two-dimensional salinity profiles are discussed and compared to freezing experiments on slots cut in sea ice sheets. The in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Physics
Main Authors: Petrich, C, Haskell, T G, Langhorne, P J
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2003
Subjects:
General Physics and Astronomy
McMurdo Sound
Antarc*
Antarctica
Sea ice
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/p03-032
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/p03-032
Description
Summary:The structure of natural refrozen cracks in landfast first-year sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, is examined in Spring. The alignment of inclusions, crystal structure, and two-dimensional salinity profiles are discussed and compared to freezing experiments on slots cut in sea ice sheets. The investigated cracks and slots are of the order of 20–30 cm wide and grown in ice of about 1–2.2 m thickness. Convection in the water column during the phase transition is modelled with the Finite Volume Method. We find that inclusions seem to align with the freezing front, and suggest that the crystal structure and salinity profile are influenced by buoyancy-driven convection inside refreezing cracks. PACS Nos.: 46.50+a, 62.20Mk

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