Brief communication: Grease Ice in the Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone

• Main Authors: Paul, Felix, Mielke, Tommy, Nisters, Carina, Schröder, Jörg, Rampai, Tokoloho, Skatulla, Sebastian, Audh, Riesna, Hepworth, Ehlke, Vichi, Marcello, Lupascu, Doru C.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-362; https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2020-362/

Frazil ice, consisting of loose disc-shaped ice crystals, is the very first ice that forms in the annual cycle in the marginal ice zone (MIZ) of the Antarctic. A sufficient number of frazil ice crystals forms the surface <q>grease ice</q> layer taking a fundamental role in the freezing processes in the MIZ. As soon as the ocean waves are sufficiently damped, a closed ice cover can form. In this brief communication we investigate the rheological properties of frazil ice, which has a crucial influence on the growth of sea ice in the MIZ. Grease ice shows shear thinning flow behavior.