| Summary: | The state of the sea ice cover results from an interplay between thermodynamics and dynamics. Changes in the ice cover further affect the way in which the ice responds to forcing, both thermodynamic and dynamic. This thesis discusses several aspects of sea ice thermodynamics and dynamics, and their contribution to the evolution of ice pack, and particularly to changes in the Arctic sea ice cover. The main focus is on the ice dynamics in different types of ice zones and under different conditions, which also enables the examination of the impact of thermodynamic forcing on sea ice dynamics. Changes in the Arctic sea ice thickness distribution during the period 1975-2000 are studied in detail, and the contribution of thermodynamics and dynamics as driving forcing is discussed. The results show that the shape of the sea ice thickness distribution has changed: the peak of the distribution has generally narrowed and shifted towards thinner ice. A prevalent feature is the loss of thick, mostly deformed ice, which has had a significant role in the decrease in the mean and modal ice thickness. The results also show a decrease in the seasonal variability of the mean ice thickness, but with strong regional differences. Also, the regional variability of the sea ice thickness has decreased, since the thinning has been the most pronounced in regions which formerly had the thickest ice cover. The observed changes in the regional ice draft distributions cannot be explained by local warming of the atmosphere, but changes in the ice drift patterns have had an essential impact. These results emphasize the importance of the description of sea ice dynamics in the models. Sea ice dynamics, and especially deformation, strongly affect the evolution of ice volume and properties of ice cover. There has still been a need for better understanding of the highly local and intermittent deformation process, as well as its variability that rises from different types of conditions and regions. Several aspects of these questions are covered in ...
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