Sea-ice melt onset associated with lead opening during the spring/summer transition near the North Pole

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
• Main Authors: Vivier, Frédéric, Hutchings, Jennifer K., Kawaguchi, Yusuke, Kikuchi, Takashi, Morison, James H., Lourenço, Antonio, Noguchi, Tomohide
• Other Authors: Interactions et Processus au sein de la couche de Surface Océanique (IPSO), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Corvallis (CEOAS), Oregon State University (OSU), Institute of Oceanographic Research for Global Changes (IORGC), Polar Science Center Seattle, Applied Physics Laboratory Seattle (APL-UW), University of Washington Seattle -University of Washington Seattle, Développement Instrumental et Techniques Marines (DITM), Marine Works Japan Ltd., IPEV program 1015, U.S. National Science Foundation grant ARC-1023662, U.S. National Science Foundation grant ARC-0856330, JAMSTEC and IARC Collaboration Studies, ANR-09-BLAN-0227,OPTIMISM(2009)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: CCSD 2016
• Subjects: melt; North Pole; Arctic; buoys; sea ice; mixed layer; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Arctic Ocean; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01304147; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01304147v1/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01304147v1/file/Vivier_2016_Sea_ice_melt_onset.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011588

International audience In the central Arctic Ocean, autonomous observations of the ocean mixed layer and ice documented the transition from cold spring to early summer in 2011. Ice-motion measurements using GPS drifters captured three events of lead opening and ice ridge formation in May and June. Satellite sea ice concentration observations suggest that locally observed lead openings were part of a larger-scale pattern. We clarify how these ice deformation events are linked with the onset of basal sea ice melt, which preceded surface melt by 20 days. Observed basal melt and ocean warming are consistent with the available input of solar radiation into leads, once the advent of mild atmospheric conditions prevents lead refreezing. We use a one-dimensional numerical simulation incorporating a Local Turbulence Closure scheme to investigate the mechanisms controlling basal melt and upper ocean warming. According to the simulation, a combination of rapid ice motion and increased solar energy input at leads promotes basal ice melt, through enhanced mixing in the upper mixed layer, while slow ice motion during a large lead opening in mid-June produced a thin, low-density surface layer. This enhanced stratification near the surface facilitates storage of solar radiation within the thin layer, instead of exchange with deeper layers, leading to further basal ice melt preceding the upper surface melt.