Tracer measurements in growing sea ice support convective gravity drainage parameterizations
International audience Gravity drainage is the dominant process redistributing solutes in growing sea ice. Modeling gravity drainage is therefore necessary to predict physical and biogeochemical variables in sea ice. We evaluate seven gravity drainage parameterizations, spanning the range of approac...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2020
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-02904132 https://hal.science/hal-02904132/document https://hal.science/hal-02904132/file/Thomas_et_al_JGR2020.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jc015791 |
Summary: | International audience Gravity drainage is the dominant process redistributing solutes in growing sea ice. Modeling gravity drainage is therefore necessary to predict physical and biogeochemical variables in sea ice. We evaluate seven gravity drainage parameterizations, spanning the range of approaches in the literature, using tracer measurements in a sea ice growth experiment. Artificial sea ice is grown to around 17 cm thickness in a new experimental facility, the Roland von Glasow air-sea-ice chamber. We use NaCl (present in the water initially) and rhodamine (injected into the water after 10 cm of sea ice growth) as independent tracers of brine dynamics. We measure vertical profiles of bulk salinity in situ, as well as bulk salinity and rhodamine in discrete samples taken at the end of the experiment. Convective parameterizations that diagnose gravity drainage using Rayleigh numbers outperform a simpler convective parameterization and diffusive parameterizations when compared to observations. This study is the first to numerically model solutes decoupled from salinity using convective gravity drainage parameterizations. Our results show that (1) convective, Rayleigh number-based parameterizations are our most accurate and precise tool for predicting sea ice bulk salinity; and (2) these parameterizations can be generalized to brine dynamics parameterizations, and hence can predict the dynamics of any solute in growing sea ice. Plain Language Summary The cold atmosphere in the Arctic and Southern Oceans can cause sea water to freeze at the surface, forming sea ice. The salt present in the sea water is trapped in the newly formed sea ice, in pockets of very salty liquid, or brine. Brine is much denser than the ocean below, which causes the brine to drain into the ocean. This process is generally referred to as gravity drainage. It is critically important, affecting the ocean's circulation, the movement of greenhouse gases through sea ice, and the supply of nutrients to sea ice algae. Several authors have ... |
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