MODELLING OF REFROZEN CRACKS IN SEA ICE

• Main Authors: Chris Petrich, Pat J. Langhorne, Tim G. Haskell
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.501.5333; http://www.physics.otago.ac.nz/research/ice/publications/Petrich_IAHR2002.pdf

Refrozen cracks in sea ice provide the conditions that allow the investigation of refreez-ing saltwater ice under heat transfer in two dimensions. In this study we investigate the refreezing process of cracks with a numerical model based on the finite volume method with mushy layer treatment after Darcy. The model results are compared to our field data on refrozen cracks 10 to 40 cm wide. We find that numerical sea ice growth modelling is still handicapped by the absence of appropriate permeability parameterizations of the crystal structure. However, we are able to obtain qualitative agreement between model and reality.