another thing that floats
- In the winter of 2006/2007 both ice arches failed to form for the first time in recorded history, causing sea ice to remain mobile in Nares Strait year-round (Kwok et al., 2010; Vincent, 2019) (Fig. 2, Supplement Fig. S1).
- The observed changes in Nares Strait sea ice dynamics likely have significant consequences for the export of multi-year sea ice from the Lincoln Sea and long-term Arctic sea ice loss (Kwok et al., 2010; Moore et al., 2021; Vincent, 2019) (Fig. 2).
- Additionally, the formation of the southern ice arch in Smith Sound is crucial for the annual opening of the North Water Polynya (NOW) (Fig. 1) and the formation of landfast sea ice in Nares Strait (Barber et al., 2001).
- In Nares Strait their formation [ice arches] depends primarily on the sea ice thickness, local wind stresses, and atmospheric temperatures (Barber et al., 2001; Kwok et al., 2010; Samelson et al., 2006).
- Ice arching inhibits sea ice export from the Arctic Ocean and allows the formation of landfast ice in Nares Strait, consisting of a mixture of multi-year drift ice, originating from the Arctic Ocean, and locally formed first-year ice (Kwok, 2005; Kwok et al., 2010).
- In recent decades, however, changes in the ice arch configuration suggest a transition in Nares Strait sea ice dynamics.
- Between 1979 and 2019, Nares Strait was blocked for sea ice passage on average 161 d per season with a consistent decrease of 2.1 d yr−1 throughout this period (Vincent, 2019).
- Sea ice (Wikipedia)
Sea ice forms as seawater freezes. Because ice is less dense than liquid water, it floats on the ocean’s surface (just like fresh water ice). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth’s surface and about 12% of the world’s oceans. Much of the world’s sea ice is enclosed within the polar ice packs in the Earth’s polar regions: the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean. Polar packs naturally undergo significant yearly cycling, reaching their greatest surface extent in winter and retreating in summer.
