The areas and ice production of the western and central Ross Sea polynyas, 1992–2002, and their relation to the B-15 and C-19 iceberg events of 2000 and 2002

Martin, Seelye; Drucker, Robert; Kwok, R.

doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2006.11.008

Cited by 85 publications

(139 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The interannual variability of the sea ice extent in the Ross Sea sector has been significantly correlated with the strength of the southerly winds over the Ross Sea and the depth of the Amundsen Sea low (Turner et al 2016). Stronger southerly winds and more vigorous coastal polynya formation along the Ross Ice Shelf boundary would increase sea ice production in the region as has been observed (Comiso et al 2011;Martin et al 2007;Holland and Kwok 2012). Others have linked the positive trend in ice cover to a freshening of Antarctic seawater (Jacobs 2006;Swart and Fyfe 2013) but model experiments suggest that the magnitude of this contribution cannot account for the observed ice increase.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Positive Trend in the Antarctic Sea Ice Cover and Associated Changes in Surface Temperature

et al. 2017

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The Antarctic sea ice extent has been slowly increasing contrary to expected trends due to global warming and results from coupled climate models. After a record high extent in 2012 the extent was even higher in 2014 when the magnitude exceeded 20 3 10 6 km 2 for the first time during the satellite era. The positive trend is confirmed with newly reprocessed sea ice data that addressed inconsistency issues in the time series. The variability in sea ice extent and ice area was studied alongside surface ice temperature for the 34-yr period starting in 1981, and the results of the analysis show a strong correlation of 20.94 during the growth season and 20.86 during the melt season. The correlation coefficients are even stronger with a one-month lag in surface temperature at 20.96 during the growth season and 20.98 during the melt season, suggesting that the trend in sea ice cover is strongly influenced by the trend in surface temperature. The correlation with atmospheric circulation as represented by the southern annular mode (SAM) index appears to be relatively weak. A case study comparing the record high in 2014 with a relatively low ice extent in 2015 also shows strong sensitivity to changes in surface temperature. The results suggest that the positive trend is a consequence of the spatial variability of global trends in surface temperature and that the ability of current climate models to forecast sea ice trend can be improved through better performance in reproducing observed surface temperatures in the Antarctic region.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Positive Trend in the Antarctic Sea Ice Cover and Associated Changes in Surface Temperature

et al. 2017

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“…However, it should be noted that we could not consider the effects of the upwelling of warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) [Jacobs and Comiso, 1989] and the calving of the Ross Ice Shelf [e.g., Martin et al, 2007]. In the future, these effects should be addressed for comprehensive understanding of the RISP variability.…”

Section: 1002/2015jc010894mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The RISP has the highest ice production among the Antarctic coastal polynyas [Tamura et al, 2008;Nihashi and Ohshima, 2015] and is a major formation area of DSW, which is a precursor to AABW [Jacobs and Comiso, 1989;Martin et al, 2007]. Therefore, the formation and variability of the RISP is directly related to AABW formation and its variability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variability and ice production budget in the Ross Ice Shelf Polynya based on a simplified polynya model and satellite observations

et al. 2015

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We examined to what degree a simplified polynya model can explain a real polynya based on satellite‐derived sea‐ice data. In the model, the polynya area, defined as the frazil ice production region, is determined by a balance between the offshore consolidated ice drift and frazil ice production. We used daily polynya area, ice production, and ice drift data derived from AMSR‐E. The study area is the Ross Ice Shelf Polynya (RISP), which has the highest sea‐ice production in the Southern Ocean. As a modification of the original model to apply the available satellite data set, we introduced the lag time by which produced frazil ice is transported and accumulated at the polynya edge. The model represents a half (48–60%) of the polynya variability when using a lag time of 1.5 days. The frazil ice collection depth at the polynya edge, a key parameter in the model, is estimated to be ∼16 cm. The expansion of the RISP is achieved by ice divergence, and the contraction is achieved mostly by ice production. Both the wind and the remaining components (mainly regarded as the ocean current component) in the ice divergence are larger in the western part of the RISP, which explains the larger extent there. In the one‐dimensional frame, assuming that the frazil ice produced within the RISP transforms into consolidated ice with a thickness of 16 cm, the frazil ice production (∼1.7 × 103 m2 d−1) within the RISP approximately balances the export (∼1.6 × 103 m2 d−1) of consolidated thin ice from the RISP edge.

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“…While some modeling studies have discussed heat and salt fluxes associated with sea ice redistribution in the Southern Ocean (Marsland and Wolff 2001;Stossel et al 2002), heat and salt fluxes associated with sea ice growth and melt have not been well understood on a hemispheric scale. Most past studies have focused on estimating rates of ice production and associated heat and salt fluxes on local to regional scales (Renfrew et al 2002;Williams and Bindoff 2003;Martin et al 2007). In other words, there has been a lack of suitable surface heat and salt flux data from the ice-affected Southern Ocean with which to drive and validate general circulation models.…”

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confidence: 99%

Estimation of Surface Heat/Salt Fluxes Associated with Sea Ice Growth/Melt in the Southern Ocean

Tamura

Ohshima

Nihashi

et al. 2011

SOLA

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The sinking of dense water in the polar oceans plays a key role in global thermohaline circulation, leading to heat and material exchange between the atmosphere and deep ocean. This study provides the first surface heat and salt flux dataset for the Southern Ocean (including a treatment of sea ice growth and melt), based on heat flux calculations and satellite-derived sea ice data. The geographical distribution of annual net heat (salt) flux shows a distinct contrast: significant cooling of (salt release into) the ocean occurs in the coastal region, and net heating of (freshwater release into) the ocean occurs in the offshore region. The work tries a quantitative representation of heat and freshwater transport by sea ice formed in the coastal region to offshore. Since hemisphericscale heat and salt fluxes associated with sea ice growth and melt have not been estimated from observations to date, the present dataset will provide new information with which to validate coupled ice-ocean models while providing important boundary conditions for the various models. IntroductionThe climatically-crucial thermohaline circulation of the global ocean is largely driven by the sinking of dense water and its upwelling, and is sensitive to changes in the freshwater balance at high latitudes (Alley et al. 2003). The dense water is largely formed by cold and high salinity water (brine) rejection due to ice production in the sea-ice covered oceans. It is widely recognized that high ice production in Antarctic coastal polynyas is responsible for the formation of the Antarctic Bottom Water, which is the densest water mass in the world ocean and is the most important driver of the abyssal circulation. Antarctic coastal polynyas are formed by divergent ice motion due to prevailing winds and/or oceanic currents, with most of their area being covered with newly-forming and/or thin ice (Barber and Massom 2007). During winter, heat loss over thin ice is one or two orders of magnitude larger than that over thick ice (Maykut 1978), and is very sensitive to ice thickness. Thus, particularly high rates of ice production occur in thin ice areas including Antarctic coastal polynyas during austral winter.Sea ice growth, drift, and subsequent melt lead to redistribution of heat and salt in the ocean, and are thus important factors affecting the oceanic heat-and salt-balances and therefore thermohaline circulation. While some modeling studies have discussed heat and salt fluxes associated with sea ice redistribution in the Southern Ocean (Marsland and Wolff 2001;Stossel et al. 2002), heat and salt fluxes associated with sea ice growth and melt have not been well understood on a hemispheric scale. Most past studies have focused on estimating rates of ice production and associated heat and salt fluxes on local to regional scales (Renfrew et al. 2002;Williams and Bindoff 2003;Martin et al. 2007). In other words, there has been a lack of suitable surface heat and salt flux data from the ice-affected Southern Ocean with which to drive and valid...

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The areas and ice production of the western and central Ross Sea polynyas, 1992–2002, and their relation to the B-15 and C-19 iceberg events of 2000 and 2002

Cited by 85 publications

References 21 publications

Positive Trend in the Antarctic Sea Ice Cover and Associated Changes in Surface Temperature

Positive Trend in the Antarctic Sea Ice Cover and Associated Changes in Surface Temperature

Variability and ice production budget in the Ross Ice Shelf Polynya based on a simplified polynya model and satellite observations

Estimation of Surface Heat/Salt Fluxes Associated with Sea Ice Growth/Melt in the Southern Ocean

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