Three-dimensional imaging of waves and floe sizes in the marginal ice zone during an explosive cyclone

Abstract

Propagation of energetic surface gravity waves over a > 40 km transect of the winter Antarctic marginal ice zone comprised of pancake floes and interstitial frazil ice during an explosive polar cyclone are presented, obtained with a shipborne stereo-camera system. The waves are shown to attenuate at an exponential rate over distance, but, despite this, remain large, even at the deepest measurement locations and in 100% ice concentration, where they are up to 8 m in amplitude-the largest waves measured in comparable conditions. The occurrence of large waves in the marginal ice zone is shown to be consistent with linear theory. Using concomitant measurements of wind speeds, evidence is given that wind-to-wave momentum transfer occurs through a 100% pancake/frazil ice cover, which is not permitted in most contemporary models.

Optimized structures for vibration attenuation and sound control in nature: A review

“…Quantitative measurements of such attenuation have been recently obtained through stereoscopic measurements. 84 Attenuation of surface seismic waves by trees Further recent evidence of natural barriers for large-scale vibrations is the attenuation of seismic surface waves achieved by trees. 85 The vibrations are transmitted to the trees through two coupling mechanisms, associated with two distinct vibrational modes.…”

Altimetric observation of wave attenuation through the Antarctic marginal ice zone using ICESat-2

“…This work is further evidence that the SIC-based MIZ may not accurately reflect the presence of waves. Both Vichi et al (2019) and Alberello et al (2021) detected waves in unconsolidated yet high-concentration (100 %) sea ice, through which waves could easily propagate. Knowledge of SIC distribution alone (without ice type or thickness information) is inadequate for understanding the evolution of the MIZ, especially during an extreme polar cyclone (Vichi et al, 2019) or compaction events (Massom et al, 2008), when the presence of strong on-ice winds may lead to wave penetration within extremely compressed (100 %) SIC.…”

“…In doing so, they can substantially impact the sea ice cover and the size distribution of ice floes (Kohout et al, 2014). This is especially the case in the circum-Antarctic sea ice zone, where long-period and high-amplitude waves from the surrounding high-energy Southern Ocean (Young et al, 2020) penetrate and become progressively attenuated within the MIZ (Weeks, 2010;Horvat et al, 2020;Alberello et al, 2021).…”