Sea

Ice

Presented by:
Dorothy Gurgacz
 What is Sea Ice?
Sea ice is formed from freezing ocean
water

It occurs in both the Arctic and Antarctic

In the Northern Hemisphere it can exist as
far as 38°N

In the Southern Hemisphere it only
occurs around Antarctica and can reach as
far north as 55°S
Arctic Sea Ice
on 11/30/10
Antarctic Ice
on 11/30/10
 Formation
 Formation of ice occurs at approximately -1.8°C
(28.76°F)
 As the water begins to freeze, small needle-like crystals
called frazil form. These crystals are typically 3-4 mm
in diameter. During their formation salt is expelled into
the surrounding water, frazil crystals are nearly pure
fresh water.
 Sheets of ice are able to form when the frazil crystals
float to the top, accumulate, and bond together.
 The formation and melting of ice is a seasonally variable
process.
Sea Ice
Forming
 The Arctic is a semi-enclosed
ocean, surrounded by land.
Arctic vs. Antarctic
 The Antarctic is a land mass,
surrounded by ocean.
 Mobility of the ice in these
regions are very different. In the
Antarctic the ice can move freely,
and eventually travel into warmer
waters.
 Although the Arctic ice does
move, it tends to stay within
Arctic waters. This causes the ice
masses to bump into each other
and accumulate ice ridges at a
higher frequency. These ice ridges
make Arctic ice more thick.
 The presence of ridge ice and its
longer life cycle leads to ice that
stays frozen longer during the
summer melt. So some arctic sea
ice remains through the summer
and continues to grow the
following autumn
 Albedo
 Albedo is a unit-less quantity that indicates how well a
surface reflects solar energy.
 Sea ice has a much higher albedo compared to other earth
surfaces
 Typical albedo for bare sea ice is between 30-40% and can be
as high as 95% for snow covered ice
 High albedo serves to insulate the sea ice, maintaining cold
temperatures and delaying ice melt in the summer
 Incoming radiation that is not reflected is absorbed in the
top few millimeters of ice. The only way heat can be
transferred to the ocean is by conduction from the ice to the
water; but the ice is always colder than the water underneath,
the conduction of heat is from the water to the ice.
Why is Sea Ice Important?
 Sea ice is a critical component in the earth’s climate system.
 Sea ice reflects the Sun's radiation more compared with open water
and also acts like a lid on the ocean trapping heat
 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 consistent 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
 Global warming has caused sea ice to melt at faster rates then ever
before, this can cause the sea level to rise significantly.
 Because sea ice is largely fresh, greater rates of melting means
greater input of freshwater into the ocean. This can affect density
driven processes.
Sea Ice Extent During the Summer Melt Season
When sea water freezes to
sea ice a great deal of the
salt in the water is
separated out. This means
that the saline content of
the surface water in polar
regions increases where sea
ice is formed. Water with a
higher salinity has higher
density than water with
lower salinity. Thus the
salty water sinks to lower
levels in the ocean, while
warmer water from the
south replaces what used to
be surface water. In this
way the ice contributes to
ocean currents that
transport considerable
amounts of water between
the different oceans.
Many animals and
plants depend on the
sea ice. Among these are
polar bears, seals,
seabirds, crustaceans
and algae. As a result of
the greatly reduced sea
ice extent in summer
over the last decades,
polar bears were
recently registered as an
endangered species.