Thin ice, deep snow and surface flooding in Kotzebue Sound: landfast ice mass balance during two anomalously warm winters and implications for marine mammals and subsistence hunting
The inaugural data from the first systematic program of sea-ice observations in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, in 2018 coincided with the first winter in living memory when the Sound was not choked with ice. The following winter of 2018–19 was even warmer and characterized by even less ice. Here we discuss...
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2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.49 https://doaj.org/article/617078ce448f49218badd0bdc70b4013 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:617078ce448f49218badd0bdc70b4013 2023-05-15T15:40:04+02:00 Thin ice, deep snow and surface flooding in Kotzebue Sound: landfast ice mass balance during two anomalously warm winters and implications for marine mammals and subsistence hunting Andrew R. Mahoney Kate E. Turner Donna D. W. Hauser Nathan J. M. Laxague Jessica M. Lindsay Alex V. Whiting Carson R. Witte John Goodwin Cyrus Harris Robert J. Schaeffer Roswell Schaeffer Sarah Betcher Ajit Subramaniam Christopher J. Zappa 2021-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.49 https://doaj.org/article/617078ce448f49218badd0bdc70b4013 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143021000496/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2021.49 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/617078ce448f49218badd0bdc70b4013 Journal of Glaciology, Vol 67, Pp 1013-1027 (2021) Ice thickness measurements sea ice sea-ice growth and decay sea-ice modeling snow/ice surface processes Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.49 2023-03-12T01:30:57Z The inaugural data from the first systematic program of sea-ice observations in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, in 2018 coincided with the first winter in living memory when the Sound was not choked with ice. The following winter of 2018–19 was even warmer and characterized by even less ice. Here we discuss the mass balance of landfast ice near Kotzebue (Qikiqtaġruk) during these two anomalously warm winters. We use in situ observations and a 1-D thermodynamic model to address three research questions developed in partnership with an Indigenous Advisory Council. In doing so, we improve our understanding of connections between landfast ice mass balance, marine mammals and subsistence hunting. Specifically, we show: (i) ice growth stopped unusually early due to strong vertical ocean heat flux, which also likely contributed to early start to bearded seal hunting; (ii) unusually thin ice contributed to widespread surface flooding. The associated snow ice formation partly offset the reduced ice growth, but the flooding likely had a negative impact on ringed seal habitat; (iii) sea ice near Kotzebue during the winters of 2017–18 and 2018–19 was likely the thinnest since at least 1945, driven by a combination of warm air temperatures and a persistent ocean heat flux. Article in Journal/Newspaper bearded seal Journal of Glaciology ringed seal Sea ice Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Journal of Glaciology 67 266 1013 1027 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ice thickness measurements sea ice sea-ice growth and decay sea-ice modeling snow/ice surface processes Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Ice thickness measurements sea ice sea-ice growth and decay sea-ice modeling snow/ice surface processes Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Andrew R. Mahoney Kate E. Turner Donna D. W. Hauser Nathan J. M. Laxague Jessica M. Lindsay Alex V. Whiting Carson R. Witte John Goodwin Cyrus Harris Robert J. Schaeffer Roswell Schaeffer Sarah Betcher Ajit Subramaniam Christopher J. Zappa Thin ice, deep snow and surface flooding in Kotzebue Sound: landfast ice mass balance during two anomalously warm winters and implications for marine mammals and subsistence hunting |
topic_facet |
Ice thickness measurements sea ice sea-ice growth and decay sea-ice modeling snow/ice surface processes Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
The inaugural data from the first systematic program of sea-ice observations in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, in 2018 coincided with the first winter in living memory when the Sound was not choked with ice. The following winter of 2018–19 was even warmer and characterized by even less ice. Here we discuss the mass balance of landfast ice near Kotzebue (Qikiqtaġruk) during these two anomalously warm winters. We use in situ observations and a 1-D thermodynamic model to address three research questions developed in partnership with an Indigenous Advisory Council. In doing so, we improve our understanding of connections between landfast ice mass balance, marine mammals and subsistence hunting. Specifically, we show: (i) ice growth stopped unusually early due to strong vertical ocean heat flux, which also likely contributed to early start to bearded seal hunting; (ii) unusually thin ice contributed to widespread surface flooding. The associated snow ice formation partly offset the reduced ice growth, but the flooding likely had a negative impact on ringed seal habitat; (iii) sea ice near Kotzebue during the winters of 2017–18 and 2018–19 was likely the thinnest since at least 1945, driven by a combination of warm air temperatures and a persistent ocean heat flux. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andrew R. Mahoney Kate E. Turner Donna D. W. Hauser Nathan J. M. Laxague Jessica M. Lindsay Alex V. Whiting Carson R. Witte John Goodwin Cyrus Harris Robert J. Schaeffer Roswell Schaeffer Sarah Betcher Ajit Subramaniam Christopher J. Zappa |
author_facet |
Andrew R. Mahoney Kate E. Turner Donna D. W. Hauser Nathan J. M. Laxague Jessica M. Lindsay Alex V. Whiting Carson R. Witte John Goodwin Cyrus Harris Robert J. Schaeffer Roswell Schaeffer Sarah Betcher Ajit Subramaniam Christopher J. Zappa |
author_sort |
Andrew R. Mahoney |
title |
Thin ice, deep snow and surface flooding in Kotzebue Sound: landfast ice mass balance during two anomalously warm winters and implications for marine mammals and subsistence hunting |
title_short |
Thin ice, deep snow and surface flooding in Kotzebue Sound: landfast ice mass balance during two anomalously warm winters and implications for marine mammals and subsistence hunting |
title_full |
Thin ice, deep snow and surface flooding in Kotzebue Sound: landfast ice mass balance during two anomalously warm winters and implications for marine mammals and subsistence hunting |
title_fullStr |
Thin ice, deep snow and surface flooding in Kotzebue Sound: landfast ice mass balance during two anomalously warm winters and implications for marine mammals and subsistence hunting |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thin ice, deep snow and surface flooding in Kotzebue Sound: landfast ice mass balance during two anomalously warm winters and implications for marine mammals and subsistence hunting |
title_sort |
thin ice, deep snow and surface flooding in kotzebue sound: landfast ice mass balance during two anomalously warm winters and implications for marine mammals and subsistence hunting |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.49 https://doaj.org/article/617078ce448f49218badd0bdc70b4013 |
genre |
bearded seal Journal of Glaciology ringed seal Sea ice Alaska |
genre_facet |
bearded seal Journal of Glaciology ringed seal Sea ice Alaska |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 67, Pp 1013-1027 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143021000496/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2021.49 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/617078ce448f49218badd0bdc70b4013 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.49 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
67 |
container_issue |
266 |
container_start_page |
1013 |
op_container_end_page |
1027 |
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1766372151786471424 |