scholarly journals On Supercooling and Ice Formation in Turbulent Sea-water

1985 ◽  
Vol 31 (109) ◽  
pp. 263-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Omstedt

AbstractLaboratory data on supercooling and frazil-ice formation in sea-water are analysed using a boundary-layer model. The model is based on a turbulent channel-flow boundary-layer theory, in which buoyancy effects become important because of vertical gradients in temperature, salinity, and suspended frazil-ice crystals. The frazil-ice crystals are treated as thin uniform plates. By assuming a mean face diameter, a mean thickness, and a mean Nusselt number of 10−3m, 10−4m, and 4, respectively, the general experimental findings are well reproduced by the model.

1985 ◽  
Vol 31 (109) ◽  
pp. 263-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Omstedt

AbstractLaboratory data on supercooling and frazil-ice formation in sea-water are analysed using a boundary-layer model. The model is based on a turbulent channel-flow boundary-layer theory, in which buoyancy effects become important because of vertical gradients in temperature, salinity, and suspended frazil-ice crystals. The frazil-ice crystals are treated as thin uniform plates. By assuming a mean face diameter, a mean thickness, and a mean Nusselt number of 10−3 m, 10−4 m, and 4, respectively, the general experimental findings are well reproduced by the model.


1997 ◽  
Vol 43 (143) ◽  
pp. 138-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. O. Jeffries ◽  
K. Morris ◽  
W.F. Weeks ◽  
A. P. Worby

AbstractSixty-three ice cores were collected in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas in August and September 1993 during a cruise of the R.V. Nathaniel B. Palmer. The structure and stable-isotopic composition (18O/16O) of the cores were investigated in order to understand the growth conditions and to identify the key growth processes, particularly the contribution of snow to sea-ice formation. The structure and isotopic composition of a set of 12 cores that was collected for the same purpose in the Bellingshausen Sea in March 1992 are reassessed. Frazil ice and congelation ice contribute 44% and 26%, respectively, to the composition of both the winter and summer ice-core sets, evidence that the relatively calm conditions that favour congelation-ice formation are neither as common nor as prolonged as the more turbulent conditions that favour frazil-ice growth and pancake-ice formation. Both frazil- and congelation-ice layers have an av erage thickness of 0.12 m in winter, evidence that congelation ice and pancake ice thicken primarily by dynamic processes. The thermodynamic development of the ice cover relies heavily on the formation of snow ice at the surface of floes after sea water has flooded the snow cover. Snow-ice layers have a mean thickness of 0.20 and 0.28 m in the winter and summer cores, respectively, and the contribution of snow ice to the winter (24%) and summer (16%) core sets exceeds most quantities that have been reported previously in other Antarctic pack-ice zones. The thickness and quantity of snow ice may be due to a combination of high snow-accumulation rates and snow loads, environmental conditions that favour a warm ice cover in which brine convection between the bottom and top of the ice introduces sea water to the snow/ice interface, and bottom melting losses being compensated by snow-ice formation. Layers of superimposed ice at the top of each of the summer cores make up 4.6% of the ice that was examined and they increase by a factor of 3 the quantity of snow entrained in the ice. The accumulation of superimposed ice is evidence that melting in the snow cover on Antarctic sea-ice floes ran reach an advanced stage and contribute a significant amount of snow to the total ice mass.


2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 1751-1775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor J. McDougall ◽  
Paul M. Barker ◽  
Rainer Feistel ◽  
Ben K. Galton-Fenzi

Abstract The thermodynamic consequences of the melting of ice and sea ice into seawater are considered. The International Thermodynamic Equation Of Seawater—2010 (TEOS-10) is used to derive the changes in the Conservative Temperature and Absolute Salinity of seawater that occurs as a consequence of the melting of ice and sea ice into seawater. Also, a study of the thermodynamic relationships involved in the formation of frazil ice enables the calculation of the magnitudes of the Conservative Temperature and Absolute Salinity changes with pressure when frazil ice is present in a seawater parcel, assuming that the frazil ice crystals are sufficiently small that their relative vertical velocity can be ignored. The main results of this paper are the equations that describe the changes to these quantities when ice and seawater interact, and these equations can be evaluated using computer software that the authors have developed and is publicly available in the Gibbs SeaWater (GSW) Oceanographic Toolbox of TEOS-10.


1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-L. Tison ◽  
D. Ronveaux ◽  
R. D. Lorrain

Chemical, isotopic and crystallographic characteristics of marine ice formed at the base of the Hells Gate Ice Shelf, Terra Nova Bay, allow a better understanding of the dynamics of marine ice accretion under small ice shelves. The observed properties of the different types of frazil ice found in the area immediately behind the ice shelf front, result from a progressive evolution of the individual frazil ice crystals initially accreted at the base of the ice-shelf. Basal melting caused by the descending plumes of water masses at a temperature above their local freezing point, initiates partial melting of the frazil ice crystals. This dilutes the interstitial water and initiates chemical sorting effects as diffusion proceeds from the normal sea water in the free water column to the diluted interstitial water in the loose frazil layer. Different environmental conditions will result in contrasting properties. Where the subglacial interface is sculptured with domes or inverted channels, it will favour the accumulation of thick units of frazil ice, in a calm environment, that will be further protected from convection mixing over long time periods. This will result in the formation of orbicular frazil showing c-axes at random, strong dilution and important sorting effects. On the contrary, where no channel or dome exist, or where those are already filled with frazil, rectangular or wave-like banded frazil will form with properties showing interfacial streaming effects induced by water currents. Strong c-axes concentration at a single maximum, less dilution and weaker chemical sorting effects are then observed. These findings provide a tentative explanation for the apparent contradiction between the very low salinity levels detected in marine ice at the base of ice shelves and the comparatively minor salinity fluctuations in sea water profiles near ice shelves.


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 2025-2047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander V. Wilchinsky ◽  
Harold D. B. S. Heorton ◽  
Daniel L. Feltham ◽  
Paul R. Holland

AbstractLeads are cracks in sea ice that often form because of deformation. During winter months, leads expose the ocean to the cold atmosphere, resulting in supercooling and the formation of frazil ice crystals within the mixed layer. Here the authors investigate the role of frazil ice formation in leads on the mass balance of the sea ice pack through the incorporation of a new module into the Los Alamos sea ice model (CICE). The frazil ice module considers an initial cooling of leads followed by a steady-state formation of uniformly distributed single size frazil ice crystals that precipitate to the ocean surface as grease ice. The grease ice is pushed against one of the lead edges by wind and water drag that the authors represent through a variable collection thickness for new sea ice. Simulations of the sea ice cover in the Arctic and Antarctic are performed and compared to a model that treats leads the same as the open ocean. The processes of ice formation in the new module slow down the refreezing of leads, resulting in a longer period of frazil ice production. The fraction of frazil-derived sea ice increases from 10% to 50%, corresponding better to observations. The new module has higher ice formation rates in areas of high ice concentration and thus has a greater impact within multiyear ice than it does in the marginal seas. The thickness of sea ice in the central Arctic increases by over 0.5 m, whereas within the Antarctic it remains unchanged.


1997 ◽  
Vol 43 (143) ◽  
pp. 138-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. O. Jeffries ◽  
K. Morris ◽  
W.F. Weeks ◽  
A. P. Worby

AbstractSixty-three ice cores were collected in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas in August and September 1993 during a cruise of the R.V.Nathaniel B. Palmer. The structure and stable-isotopic composition (18O/16O) of the cores were investigated in order to understand the growth conditions and to identify the key growth processes, particularly the contribution of snow to sea-ice formation. The structure and isotopic composition of a set of 12 cores that was collected for the same purpose in the Bellingshausen Sea in March 1992 are reassessed. Frazil ice and congelation ice contribute 44% and 26%, respectively, to the composition of both the winter and summer ice-core sets, evidence that the relatively calm conditions that favour congelation-ice formation are neither as common nor as prolonged as the more turbulent conditions that favour frazil-ice growth and pancake-ice formation. Both frazil- and congelation-ice layers have an av erage thickness of 0.12 m in winter, evidence that congelation ice and pancake ice thicken primarily by dynamic processes. The thermodynamic development of the ice cover relies heavily on the formation of snow ice at the surface of floes after sea water has flooded the snow cover. Snow-ice layers have a mean thickness of 0.20 and 0.28 m in the winter and summer cores, respectively, and the contribution of snow ice to the winter (24%) and summer (16%) core sets exceeds most quantities that have been reported previously in other Antarctic pack-ice zones. The thickness and quantity of snow ice may be due to a combination of high snow-accumulation rates and snow loads, environmental conditions that favour a warm ice cover in which brine convection between the bottom and top of the ice introduces sea water to the snow/ice interface, and bottom melting losses being compensated by snow-ice formation. Layers of superimposed ice at the top of each of the summer cores make up 4.6% of the ice that was examined and they increase by a factor of 3 the quantity of snow entrained in the ice. The accumulation of superimposed ice is evidence that melting in the snow cover on Antarctic sea-ice floes ran reach an advanced stage and contribute a significant amount of snow to the total ice mass.


1983 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 79-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Gosink ◽  
T. E. Osterkamp

The vertical concentration distribution of frazil-ice crystals in a stream during the formation and growth of frazil ice was discussed in a preliminary way by Gosink and Osterkamp (1981). This paper extends and completes the analysis of buoyant rise velocities of frazil-ice crystals and applies the results to an interpretation of measured velocity profiles in rivers during frazil-ice events. Additional experimental data are also presented. Two time scales are defined: the buoyant time scale TB, which represents the time required for a frazil crystal to rise, buoyantly, from the river bottom to the water surface, and the diffusive tine scale TD, which represents the time required for a frazil crystal to he transported by turbulence through the depth. It is shown that the ratio of the time scales TB/TD defines the nature of the layering processes; in particular, if TB/TD<1, then buoyant forces Till lift a frazil crystal faster than turbulent diffusion can redistribute it and the flow will be layered. Conversely, if TB./TD>1, turbulent mixing will proceed faster than buoyant lifting and the flow will be well-mixed. This ratio, for frazil particles of diameter 2 mm or more, corresponds to rule-of-thumb velocity criteria developed in Norway and Canada to distinguish layered frazil-ice/water flow from well-mixed flow.The development of this theory depends in large part upon the determination of TB, which depends upon the rise velocity of frazil-ice crystals. A force balance .nodel was developed for the rise velocity of a frazil crystal. Field observations during frazil -ice formation in Goldstream Creek and in the Chatanika River north of Fairbanks are reported, including a series of measurements of the rise velocities of frazil-ice crystals. Typical particle size of frazil ice was about 2 mm with a rise velocity of about 10.0 mm s -1. The agreement of measured rise velocities with the theoretical model is good considering uncertainties in the drag coefficient and in the determination of frazil crystal sizes under field conditions.Velocity profiles in the Chatanika River and in Goldstream Creek during frazil formation suggest that the time-scale ratio may serve as a transition criterion between layered frazil-ice/water flow and well-mixed flow. This ratio was calculated with the rise velocity of frazil-ice crystals arbitrarily chosen to be 0.01 m s−1.


1983 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 79-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Gosink ◽  
T. E. Osterkamp

The vertical concentration distribution of frazil-ice crystals in a stream during the formation and growth of frazil ice was discussed in a preliminary way by Gosink and Osterkamp (1981). This paper extends and completes the analysis of buoyant rise velocities of frazil-ice crystals and applies the results to an interpretation of measured velocity profiles in rivers during frazil-ice events. Additional experimental data are also presented. Two time scales are defined: the buoyant time scale TB, which represents the time required for a frazil crystal to rise, buoyantly, from the river bottom to the water surface, and the diffusive tine scale TD, which represents the time required for a frazil crystal to he transported by turbulence through the depth. It is shown that the ratio of the time scales TB/TD defines the nature of the layering processes; in particular, if TB/TD&lt;1, then buoyant forces Till lift a frazil crystal faster than turbulent diffusion can redistribute it and the flow will be layered. Conversely, if TB./TD&gt;1, turbulent mixing will proceed faster than buoyant lifting and the flow will be well-mixed. This ratio, for frazil particles of diameter 2 mm or more, corresponds to rule-of-thumb velocity criteria developed in Norway and Canada to distinguish layered frazil-ice/water flow from well-mixed flow. The development of this theory depends in large part upon the determination of TB, which depends upon the rise velocity of frazil-ice crystals. A force balance .nodel was developed for the rise velocity of a frazil crystal. Field observations during frazil -ice formation in Goldstream Creek and in the Chatanika River north of Fairbanks are reported, including a series of measurements of the rise velocities of frazil-ice crystals. Typical particle size of frazil ice was about 2 mm with a rise velocity of about 10.0 mm s -1. The agreement of measured rise velocities with the theoretical model is good considering uncertainties in the drag coefficient and in the determination of frazil crystal sizes under field conditions. Velocity profiles in the Chatanika River and in Goldstream Creek during frazil formation suggest that the time-scale ratio may serve as a transition criterion between layered frazil-ice/water flow and well-mixed flow. This ratio was calculated with the rise velocity of frazil-ice crystals arbitrarily chosen to be 0.01 m s−1.


2001 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 361-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley H. Shen ◽  
Stephen F. Ackley ◽  
Mark A. Hopkins

AbstractIt is well known that waves jostle frazil-ice crystals together, providing opportunities for them to compact into floes. The shape of these consolidated floes is nearly circular, hence the name: pancakes. From field and laboratory observations, the size of these pancakes seems to depend on the wavelength. Further aggregation of these individual pancakes produces the seasonal ice cover. Pancake-ice covers prevail in the marginal ice zone of the Southern Ocean and along the edges of many polar and subpolar seas. This theoretical paper describes conceptually the formation process of a pancake-ice cover in a wave field. The mechanisms that affect the evolution of the entire ice cover are discussed. Governing equations for the time-rate change of the floe diameter, its thickness and the thickness of the ice-cover are derived based on these mechanisms. Two criteria are proposed to determine the maximum floe size under a given wave condition, one based on bending and the other on stretching. Field and laboratory observations to date are discussed in view of this theory.


2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 897-913 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. A. Walkington ◽  
A. J. Willmott

Abstract This paper formulates and presents opening solutions of a one-dimensional coastal polynya flux model in which frazil ice is characterized by its depth and concentration. In comparison with polynya flux models in which variable frazil ice concentration is absent, this model is found to predict a smaller heat flux to the atmosphere. Consequently the model in this paper exhibits a wider steady-state polynya and longer opening times when compared with models in which ice concentration is neglected. The aforementioned polynya flux model is then coupled to a lower-atmosphere boundary layer model, and it is demonstrated that the polynya opening time and the steady-state width are significantly altered in the coupled, as compared with the decoupled, system. In essence, the heating of the lower atmosphere above the evolving polynya in the coupled system reduces the sensible heat flux between the ocean and atmosphere, thereby reducing the frazil ice production rate and hence leading to longer polynya opening time and wider steady-state width. This phenomenon is particularly noticeable when the potential temperature of the atmosphere at the coast is only slightly below the freezing point. In addition, a cutoff atmospheric wind speed is shown to exist, above which a steady-state polynya can never be obtained. Solutions calculated by the two models, using parameters representative of the St. Lawrence Island polynya, show that the new models contain substantial predictive capability.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document