Sea Ice

Ocean Salinity
Ocean Surface Salinity
Factors that Control Ocean Salinity
• At what temperature does seawater freeze?
i) ~40C
ii) ~20C
iii) ~00C
iv) ~-20C
 Effect of Salinity of freezing temperature

Temperature (0C)
2.5

0 10 20 30 40

2.5

psu (g0/00)

!!! With increasing Salinity the freezing temperature decreases

 Sea Ice Formation
• Sea ice is frozen seawater that floats on the ocean surface.
Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs at about -1.8
°C (28.8 °F).

• Blanketing millions of square kilometers, sea ice forms and melts

with the polar seasons, affecting both human activity and
biological habitat.

• Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs, which are chunks of ice
shelves or glaciers that calve into the ocean. Icebergs are
compacted snow and hence fresh water.
 Types of sea ice
• Land-fast ice - simply fast ice - sea ice - frozen along coasts ("fastened" to them) or to the
sea floor over shallow parts of the continental shelf, and extends out from land into sea.

• Unlike drift ice, it does not move with currents and wind.

• Drift ice consists of ice that floats on the surface of the water, as distinguished from the fast
ice, attached to coasts.
• Packed together in large masses - drift ice is called pack ice.
• Pack ice - either freely floating or blocked by fast ice while drifting past.

• An ice floe is a floating chunk of ice that is less than 10 kilometers (six miles) in its greatest
dimension.

• Wider chunks of ice are called ice fields

• Important areas of pack ice - polar ice packs formed from
seawater in the Earth's polar regions - Arctic ice pack and
Antarctic ice pack.

• Polar ice packs significantly change their size during seasonal

changes of the year.

• As vast amounts of water added to or removed from the oceans

and atmosphere, the behavior of polar ice packs have a
significant impact on the global changes in climate.

• Ice bergs are fresh water ice and hence different from sea ice.
Sea Ice Formation
Sea Ice Formation
Sea Ice Formation
 Sea ice and brine rejection
• Why then does sea ice float? (because it is actually less dense than the
seawater…)
• Brine rejection: as sea ice forms, it excludes salt from the ice crystal
lattice.
• The salt drips out the bottom, and the sea ice is much fresher (usually
~3-4 psu) than the seawater (around 30-32 psu)
• The rejected brine mixes into the seawater below. If there is enough
of it mixing into a thin enough layer, it can measurably increase the
salinity of the seawater, and hence its density
• This is the principle mechanism for forming the densest waters of the
world ocean.
 Brine/ rejection/channels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyWn1XJ9kTE
 Sea Ice Concentration
• Sea ice regulates exchanges of heat, moisture and salinity in the
polar oceans.

• It insulates relatively warm ocean water from cold polar atmosphere

except where cracks, or leads, in the ice allow exchange of heat and
water vapor from ocean to atmosphere in winter.

• Number of leads determines where and how much heat and water
are lost to the atmosphere, which may affect local cloud cover and
precipitation.
• Seasonal sea ice cycle affects both human activities and biological
habitats.

• For example, companies shipping raw materials such as oil or coal out of
the Arctic must work quickly during periods of low ice concentration,
navigating their ships towards openings in the ice and away from
treacherous multiyear ice that has accumulated over several years.

• Many arctic mammals, such as polar bears, seals, and walruses, depend on
the sea ice for their habitat.

• These species hunt, feed, and breed on the ice. Studies of polar bear
populations indicate that declining sea ice is likely to decrease polar bear
numbers, perhaps substantially (Stirling and Parkinson 2006).
Melting of Sea Ice
Types of Sea Ice: First-year ice vs multi-year ice
Sea Ice Extent vs Volume
Average Sea ice extent (1979-2003)

Average Sea ice extent (1979-2002)

 Movement of Sea Ice
• Sea ice floats
• Moves due to wind but also due to ocean current and other factors
• Can travel several km per day
• Results certain features in the ice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC-y9xaA77k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y-bih2WWdA
Features due to sea ice movement
Features due to sea ice movement
Multi-year ice ??
 These images from
September 2007 (top, left)
and September 2012 (top,
right) show the decline of
multiyear ice since the
previous record minimum
extent was set in 2007. The
chart at bottom shows the
changes in multiyear ice from
1983 to 2012. Ice of all ages
has declined; 5+ year old ice
has declined quite sharply.
Much of the Arctic ice cover
now consists of first-year ice
(shown in purple), which
tends to melt rapidly in
summer’s warmth.
The map at top shows
the ages of ice in the
Arctic at the beginning
of March 2014; the
bottom graph shows
how the percentage of
ice in each age group
has changed from 1983
to 2014 .
Melting sea ice since 1987-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1soac0qun0g
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1soac0qun0g

Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Anomalies, 1979-2012: Arctic sea ice extent underwent a strong
decline from 1979 to 2012, but Antarctic sea ice underwent a slight increase, although some
regions of the Antarctic experienced strong declining trends in sea ice extent. Thick lines indicate
12-month running means, and thin lines indicate monthly anomalies. See the Arctic Sea Ice
FAQ for more information.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9990wY1DEhk
How do we monitor sea ice
Sea ice:
Arctic sea ice concentration
climatology from 1979-2000,
at the approximate seasonal
maximum and minimum levels
based on passive microwave
satellite data. Image provided
by National Snow and Ice Data
Center, University of Colorado,
Boulder.
 Previous minimum Arctic sea ice extents
MI NI MUM I CE E XT E NT

IN M ILLION S OF SQUARE
YEA R KILOM E T E RS IN M ILLION S OF S QUA RE M ILES DAT E

2006 5.77 2.28 September 17

2007 4.15 1.60 September 18
2008 4.59 1.77 September 20
2009 5.12 1.98 September 13
2010 4.61 1.78 September 21
2011 4.34 1.67 September 11
2012 3.39 1.31 September 17
2013 5.05 1.95 September 13
2014 5.03 1.94 September 17
2015 4.41 1.70 September 11
1979 to 2000 average 6.70 2.59 September 13
1981 to 2010 average 6.22 2.40 September 15
 Arctic sea ice extent
for September 11,
2015, was 4.41 million
square kilometers
(1.70 million square
miles). The orange line
shows the 1981 to
2010 average extent
for the day. The black
cross indicates the
geographic North Pole.
• On September 11, 2015 sea ice extent dropped to 4.41 million square
kilometer (1.70 million square miles) – fourth lowest minimum in the
satellite record.
• Lowest extent for the year 2015.
• Four days earlier than the 1981 to 2010 average minimum date of
September 15.
• This lowest extent ranked fourth after 2012, 2007 and 2011.
• Nine lowest extents in the satellite era have all occurred in the last
nine years.
This image compares
differences in ice-covered
areas between
September 11, 2015 and
September 17, 2012, the
record low minimum
extent. Light blue shading
indicates the region
where ice occurred in
both 2015 and 2012,
while white and medium
blue areas show ice cover
unique to 2012 and to
2015, respectively.
• Many similarities exist between 2012 and 2015.
• Both years has considerable ice loss in the Beaufort, Chukchi and East
Siberian seas.
• Both years show a tongue of ice extending further Southward on the
Siberian side of the Arctic.
• North of Svalbard and in the Kara sea, sea ice extent was slightly
higher this year than in 2012.
Ten lowest minimum Arctic sea ice extents
(1981 to 2010 average)

MINIMUM ICE EXTENT

RANK YEAR IN MILLIONS OF IN MILLIONS OF DATE
SQUARE KILOMETERS SQUARE MILES
1 2012 3.39 1.31 September 17
2 2007 4.15 1.60 September 18
3 2011 4.34 1.67 September 11
4 2015 4.41 1.70 September 11
5 2008 4.59 1.77 September 20
6 2010 4.61 1.78 September 21
7 2014 5.03 1.94 September 17
8 2013 5.05 1.95 September 13
9 2009 5.12 1.98 September 13
10 2005 5.32 2.05 September 22
Arctic sea ice extent for
August 2015 was 5.61
million square
kilometers (2.16
million square miles).
The magenta line
shows the 1981 to
2010 median extent
for that month. The
black cross indicates
the geographic North
Pole.
• Average sea ice extent for August 2015 was 5.61 million Square Km
(2.16 million square miles).
• Fourth lowest August extent in the satellite record (2012, 2007,2011,
2015).
• 1.61 million Square kms (6,21,000 sq.miles) below the 1981 to 2010
August month average.
• 9,00,000 sq.kms (3,50,000 sq.miles) above the record low for August
in 2012.
The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of August 31, 2015, along with daily ice
extent data for four previous years. 2015 is shown in blue, 2014 in green, 2013 in orange,
2012 in brown, and 2011 in purple. The 1981 to 2010 average is in dark gray. The gray area
around the average line shows the two standard deviation range of the data.
Monthly August ice extent for 1979 to 2015 shows a decline of
10.3% per decade.
 These images from
September 2007 (top, left)
and September 2012 (top,
right) show the decline of
multiyear ice since the
previous record minimum
extent was set in 2007. The
chart at bottom shows the
changes in multiyear ice from
1983 to 2012. Ice of all ages
has declined; 5+ year old ice
has declined quite sharply.
Much of the Arctic ice cover
now consists of first-year ice
(shown in purple), which
tends to melt rapidly in
summer’s warmth.
The map at top shows
the ages of ice in the
Arctic at the beginning
of March 2014; the
bottom graph shows
how the percentage of
ice in each age group
has changed from 1983
to 2014 .
Mean sea ice anomalies, 1953-2012: Sea ice extent departures from monthly means for the Northern Hemisphere. For
January 1953 through December 1979, data have been obtained from the UK Hadley Centre and are based on
operational ice charts and other sources. For January 1979 through December 2012, data are derived from passive
microwave (SMMR / SSM/I). Image by Walt Meier and Julienne Stroeve, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University
of Colorado, Boulder.
This animated series
of images show Arctic
sea ice concentration
for each September
from 1979 to 2014.
Sea ice reaches its
minimum extent in
the Arctic at the end
of summer, usually in
September. Extent is
derived from
concentration.
Antarctic Sea Ice
• On average, seasonal sea ice decrease - much larger in the Antarctic - only about
three to four million square kilometers remaining at summer's end - compared to
approximately seven million square kilometers in the Arctic.
• The sea ice apron around Antarctica swells from 4 million square kilometers in
summer to 19 million square kilometers in winter. This effectively doubles the size
of Antarctica, a continent twice the size of Australia - every winter!
• Sea ice typically covers 17 to 20 million square kilometers in the Antarctic
Southern Ocean.
Thickness
• Sea ice does not stay in the Antarctic as long as it does in the Arctic -
it does not have the opportunity to grow as thick as sea ice in the
Arctic.
• Thickness varies significantly within both regions, Antarctic ice is
typically 1 to 2 meters (3 to 6 feet) thick, while most of the Arctic is
covered by sea ice 2 to 3 meters (6 to 9 feet) thick. Some Arctic
regions are covered with ice that is 4 to 5 meters (12 to 15 feet) thick.
Minimum and maximum sea ice cover for the Antarctic.
Winter in the Southern Hemisphere is opposite that of the
Northern Hemisphere,
Antarctic Sea Ice
Antarctic Sea Ice
September 2008 Antarctic sea ice 18.5million sq.km slightly below the average of 1979 -2000.
February 2009 minimum Antarctic sea ice 2.9 million sq.km slightly below average
• Climate models predict - Antarctic sea ice will respond more slowly
than Arctic sea ice to global warming.
• Negative trends in the Arctic sea ice seem to be more important to
climate scientist for the following reasons:
1. Antarctic increase is small and more complex.
2. Complete disappearance of northern hemisphere ice in
summer would be a dramatic departure.
3. Antarctic sea ice completely disappears but its impact on the
earths climate system would likely be much smaller than a
similar disappearance of Arctic ice.
• Interaction between sea ice loss and ice shelf retreat merits careful
study because many ice shelves are fed by glaciers. When an ice
shelf disintegrates, the glacier feeding it often accelerates. Because,
glacier acceleration introduces a new ice mass into the ocean, It can
raise ocean level.
• Antarctic sea ice does not plainly show the effects of
global warming - Little evidence of long term change
in either the maximum or minimum ice extent.
• Unlike the Arctic where the downward trend is
consistent (all sectors, all months, all seasons).
Antarctic picture is more complex.
• During 1979 – 2006, annual trend for four of the five
sectors was a very small positive one, but only in the
Ross sea the increase was statistically significant. Ice
extent decreased in the Bellingshausen/Amundsen
sector during the same period
• Since 1979 - total annual Antarctic sea ice extent
increased about 1% per decade.
• Compared to Arctic the signal has been a noisy one
with wide year to year fluctuations relative to the
trend.

• Largest summer minimum observed in Feb, 2003.

• Largest winter maximum observed in Sep, 2006. This
maximum observation is interesting because it
followed a Feb minimum which was the third lowest
on record.
This image compares
Antarctic sea ice extent for
September 2014 (blue line)
with extent for September
1964 (red line) and August
1966 (black line). The dotted
ellipse marked A shows the
eastern Weddell Sea and the
dotted ellipse marked B
shows the eastern Ross Sea.
Antarctic sea ice extent
for September 22, 2014
was 20.11 million
square kilometers (7.76
million square miles).
The orange line shows
the 1981 to 2010
median extent for that
day. The black cross
indicates the
geographic South Pole.
Monthly Antarctic September ice extent for 1979 to 2014 shows
an increase of 1.3% per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010
average.
This image shows sea
ice concentration
trends for the month of
September 2014.
Oranges and reds
indicate higher
concentration trends;
blues indicate lower
concentration
trends.Sea Ice
Index data.
 This animated series of
images show Antarctic
sea ice concentration for
each September from
1979 to 2014. Sea ice
reaches its maximum
extent in the Antarctic at
the end of the austral
winter, usually in
September. Extent is
derived from
concentration.
Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Anomalies, 1979-2012: Arctic sea ice extent underwent a strong
decline from 1979 to 2012, but Antarctic sea ice underwent a slight increase, although some
regions of the Antarctic experienced strong declining trends in sea ice extent. Thick lines indicate
12-month running means, and thin lines indicate monthly anomalies. See the Arctic Sea Ice
FAQ for more information.
 Patterns of Sea Ice Extent
(Antarctic Vs Arctic)

• The pattern of Antarctic maximum sea ice is roughly symmetric

around the pole, forming a circle around Antarctica ( In contrast, the
Arctic is asymmetric, with much more ice in some longitudes than others)
• In the Antarctic, the currents and winds tend to flow without
interruption around the continent in a west-to-east direction, acting
like a barricade to warmer air and water to the north (In contrast, the
Arctic region north of the Atlantic Ocean is open to the warmer waters from the
south, because of the way the ocean currents flow)
• These warmer waters can flow into the Arctic and prevent sea ice
from forming in the North Atlantic.

• The waters off the eastern coasts of Canada and Russia are affected
by cold air moving off the land from the west.

• The eastern Canadian coast is also fed by southward-flowing cold

water currents that make it easier for sea ice to grow.
Sea ice map calculated from
AMSR-E data using the ARTIST
sea ice algorithm (ASI 5).
Animation of Arctic
sea ice
concentration
(daily update of the
last 21 days that is
from September 12
- 30, 2011 and from
October 3 – 4, 2011)
Animation of
Antarctic sea ice
concentration
(daily update of
the last 21 days
that is from
September 12 -
30, 2011 and
from October 3
– 4, 2011).
Animation of Arctic sea ice
concentration
(January 1, 2003 to March
31, 2010)
Animation of
Antarctic sea ice
concentration
(January 1, 2003
to March 31,
2010)
Snow Cover over Sea Ice
(Arctic Vs Antarctic)
• Because the Arctic Ocean is mostly covered by ice and surrounded by land,
precipitation is relatively rare.
• Snowfall tends to be low, except near the ice edge.

• Antarctica, however, is entirely surrounded by ocean, so moisture is more

readily available.
• Antarctic sea ice tends to be covered by thicker snow, which may accumulate to the
point that the weight of snow pushes the ice below sea level, causing the snow to
become flooded by salty ocean waters.
Other Differences (Arctic Vs Antarctic)
• Antarctic sea ice does not reach the South Pole, extending only to about 75
degrees south latitude (in the Ross and Weddell Seas), because of the
Antarctic continent.

• However, Arctic sea ice can extend all the way to the North Pole.

• Here, the Arctic sea ice receives less solar energy at the surface because the
sun's rays strike at a more oblique angle, compared to lower latitudes.

• Water from the Pacific Ocean and several rivers in Russia and Canada
provide fresher, less dense water to the Arctic Ocean.

• So the Arctic Ocean has a layer of cold, fresh water near the surface with
warmer, saltier water below.

• This cold, fresh water layer typically allows more ice growth in the Arctic
than the Antarctic.
Variations in Ice Extent
(Arctic vs Antarctic)
•Both Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extent are characterized
by fairly large variations from year to year.

•The monthly average extent can vary by as much as 1

million square kilometers (386,102 square miles) from the
year-to-year monthly average.

•The area covered by Antarctic sea ice has shown a small

(not statistically significant) increasing trend.
• According to scientific measurements, both the thickness and extent
of summer sea ice in the Arctic have shown a dramatic decline over
the past thirty years. This is consisistent with observations of a
warming Arctic.

• This trend is a major sign of climate change in the polar regions and
may be an indicator of the effects of global warming
Thank You