Self-similarity and self-organization of drifting ice cover in the Arctic basin

2006 ◽  
Vol 411 (1) ◽  
pp. 1249-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. N. Smirnov ◽  
A. E. Chmel
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Jakovlev ◽  
Sergey Kovalev ◽  
Egor Shimanchuk ◽  
Evgeniy Shimanchuk ◽  
Aleksey Nubom

<p>Despite the strong attention to the investigations in the Arctic its advance quite slowly. The harsh climatic conditions and big expenses slow down realization of the fieldwork in high latitudes. Therefore, scientists from over the world looks for new technologies, which could optimize and reduce the costs of the fieldworks that aimed at investigation of the geological structure beneath the Arctic Ocean. From March to May 2019 scientific expedition on the Expedition Vessel “Akademic Tryoshnikov” operated by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute that belongs to Rosgidromet were conducted in the framework of the program “TransArctica 2019” first stage. In the framework of the seismological experiments 6 temporary seismic stations at 4 different locations were installed on a drifted ice floe in the North Barents Sea. The first aim of the experiment was to elaborate technology of installation of the seismic stations on the drifting ice floes. The second aim was to check if obtained seismological records could be used for registration of the local and remote earthquakes, which are meant to investigate the lithosphere structure in the Arctic regions, and for investigation of the processes within the ice floe.</p><p>The stations were installed in the April 2019 on the ice floe near the EV “Akademik Tryoshnikov” that were “frizzed” in the ice floe and drifted together with them. After analysis of the recoded data the following types of the seismic signal generated by processes in the ice were observed:</p><ul><li>- background signal from bending-gravitational waves with periods from 1 to 30 sec. Swell waves with periods from 17 to 30 sec were observed permanently during the whole period of network operation;</li> <li>- continuous mechanical vibrations (self-oscillations) with a period of up to 2-3 sec;</li> <li>- stick-slip relaxation self-oscillations with a period from 0.1 s to several minutes;</li> <li>- mechanical movements of ice due to compression or stretching of ice caused by chaotic different scales fluctuations in the drift velocity of ice floes;</li> <li>- process of ice fracturing due to compression or stretching of ice.</li> </ul><p>Results of monitoring of the ice cover has shown that in the most cases there are no direct correlations of processes within the ice floes and local hydrometeorological condition. During the process of ice cover fracturing an increased value of the ice horizontal movement were observed. Analysis of the seismic signal from ice events has shown that stick-slip events preceded origin of the ice fractures.</p><p>As a result of the initial analysis of the seismograms several signals from remote and regional earthquakes were detected. For example, an earthquake that according to the ISC bulletin occur at 08:18:23UTC on April 11, 2019 near the Japan (40.35°N, 143.35°E, 35 km depth, MS = 6.0) were detected. A local earthquake that occur approximately at 05:58UTC on April 10, 2019 at a distance of ~500 km. Due to close location of stations to each other the localization of the earthquake is impossible.</p><p>This work is supported by the RSCF project #18-17-00095.</p>


2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
pp. 594-599
Author(s):  
Yu. A. Gorbunov ◽  
L. N. Dyment ◽  
S. M. Losev ◽  
S. V. Frolov

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 307-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Sedláček ◽  
Reto Knutti ◽  
Olivia Martius ◽  
Urs Beyerle

Abstract The Arctic sea ice cover declined over the last few decades and reached a record minimum in 2007, with a slight recovery thereafter. Inspired by this the authors investigate the response of atmospheric and oceanic properties to a 1-yr period of reduced sea ice cover. Two ensembles of equilibrium and transient simulations are produced with the Community Climate System Model. A sea ice change is induced through an albedo change of 1 yr. The sea ice area and thickness recover in both ensembles after 3 and 5 yr, respectively. The sea ice anomaly leads to changes in ocean temperature and salinity to a depth of about 200 m in the Arctic Basin. Further, the salinity and temperature changes in the surface layer trigger a “Great Salinity Anomaly” in the North Atlantic that takes roughly 8 yr to travel across the North Atlantic back to high latitudes. In the atmosphere the changes induced by the sea ice anomaly do not last as long as in the ocean. The response in the transient and equilibrium simulations, while similar overall, differs in specific regional and temporal details. The surface air temperature increases over the Arctic Basin and the anomaly extends through the whole atmospheric column, changing the geopotential height fields and thus the storm tracks. The patterns of warming and thus the position of the geopotential height changes vary in the two ensembles. While the equilibrium simulation shifts the storm tracks to the south over the eastern North Atlantic and Europe, the transient simulation shifts the storm tracks south over the western North Atlantic and North America. The authors propose that the overall reduction in sea ice cover is important for producing ocean anomalies; however, for atmospheric anomalies the regional location of the sea ice anomalies is more important. While observed trends in Arctic sea ice are large and exceed those simulated by comprehensive climate models, there is little evidence based on this particular model that the seasonal loss of sea ice (e.g., as occurred in 2007) would constitute a threshold after which the Arctic would exhibit nonlinear, irreversible, or strongly accelerated sea ice loss. Caution should be exerted when extrapolating short-term trends to future sea ice behavior.


2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. B. Krasheninnikova ◽  
M. A. Krasheninnikova

Based on the spectral analysis of a number of estimates of the ice extent of the Barents Sea, obtained from instrumental observational data for 1900–2014, and for the selected CMIP5 project models (MPI-ESM-LR, MPI-ESMMR and GFDL-CM3) for 1900–2005, a typical period of ~60‑year inter-annual variability associated with the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) in conditions of a general significant decrease in the ice extent of the Barents Sea, which, according to observations and model calculations, was 20 and 15%, respectively, which confirms global warming. The maximum contribution to the total dispersion of temperature, ice cover of the Barents Sea, AMO, introduces variability with periods of more than 20 years and trends that are 47, 20, 51% and 33, 57, 30%, respectively. On the basis of the cross correlation analysis,  significant links have been established between the ice extent of the Barents Sea, AMO, and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) for the  period 1900–2014. A significant negative connection (R = −0.8) of ice cover and Atlantic multi-decadal oscillations was revealed at periods of more than 20 years with a shift of 1–2 years; NAO and ice cover (R = −0.6) with a shift of 1–2 years for periods of 10–20 years; AMO and NAO (R = −0.4 ÷ −0.5) with a 3‑year shift with AMO leading at 3–4, 6–8 and more than 20 years. The periods of the ice cover growth are specified: 1950–1980 and the reduction of the ice cover: the 1920–1950 and the 1980–2010 in the Barents Sea. Intensification of the transfer of warm waters from the North Atlantic to the Arctic basin, under the atmospheric influence caused by the NAO, accompanied by the growth of AMO leads to an increase in temperature, salinity and a decrease of ice cover in the Barents Sea. During periods of ice cover growth, opposite tendencies appear. The decrease in the ice cover area of the entire Northern Hemisphere by 1.5 × 106 km2 since the mid-1980s. to the beginning of the 2010, identified in the present work on NOAA satellite data, confirms the results obtained on the change in ice extent in the Barents Sea.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 2055-2093 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Coupel ◽  
H. Y. Jin ◽  
M. Joo ◽  
R. Horner ◽  
H. A. Bouvet ◽  
...  

Abstract. A large part of the Pacific Arctic basin experiences ice-free conditions in summer as a result of sea ice cover steadily decreasing over the last decades. To evaluate the impact of ice retreat on the Arctic ecosystem, we investigated phytoplankton communities from coastal sites (Chukchi shelf) to northern deep basins (up to 86° N), during year 2008 of high melting. Pigment and taxonomy in situ data were acquired under different ice regime: the ice -free basins (IFB, 74°–77° N), the marginal ice zone (MIZ, 77°–80° N) and the heavy ice covered basins (HIB, >80° N). Our results suggest that extensive ice melting provided favorable conditions to chrysophytes and prymnesiophytes growth and more hinospitable to pico-sized prasinophytes and micro-sized dinoflagellates. Larger cell diatoms were less abundant in the IFB while dominant in the MIZ of the deep Canadian basin. Our data were compared to those obtained during more icy years, 1994 and to a lesser extent, 2002. Freshening, stratification, light and nutrient availability are discussed as possible causes for observed phytoplankton communities under high and low sea ice cover.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 3840-3855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey V. Shoutilin ◽  
Alexander P. Makshtas ◽  
Motoyoshi Ikeda ◽  
Alexey V. Marchenko ◽  
Roman V. Bekryaev

Abstract A dynamic–thermodynamic sea ice model with the ocean mixed layer forced by atmospheric data is used to investigate spatial and long-term variability of the sea ice cover in the Arctic basin. The model satisfactorily reproduces the averaged main characteristics of the sea ice and its extent in the Arctic Basin, as well as its decrease in the early 1990s. Employment of the average ridge shape for describing the ridging allows the authors to suggest that it occurs in winter and varies from year to year by a factor of 2, depending on an atmospheric circulation pattern. Production and horizontal movement of ridges are the focus in this paper, as they show the importance of interannual variability of the Arctic ice cover. The observed thinning in the 1990s is a result of reduction in ridge formation on the Pacific side during the cyclonic phase of the Arctic Oscillation. The model yields a partial recovery of sea ice cover in the last few years of the twentieth century. In addition to the sea ice cover and average thickness compared with satellite data, the ridge amount is verified with observations taken in the vicinity of the Russian coast. The model results are useful to estimate long-term variability of the probability of ridge-free navigation in different parts of the Arctic Ocean, including the Northern Sea Route area.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. N. Zatsepa ◽  
A. A. Ivchenko ◽  
V. V. Solbakov ◽  
V. V. Stanovoy

Estimation of the oil spill size at continuous spills on the moving sea surface or on the drifting ice field is the actual practical problem. Engineering estimation means the reduction of the hydrodynamic equations system to the balance of only two main forces that cause movement and resistance of the oil flow. From the simplified problem statement some practical relations were obtained for estimating the size of spill, including continuous oil spill with surface water currents presence, for spill onto porous snow-ice cover and onto the drifting ice cover. The obtained estimations can be used in more complicated models of oil spill transformation in the marine environment, primarily in the Arctic zone, and give basis for development of adequate responses on oil spills. The comparison of the obtained estimates with the self-similar solutions of the corresponding equations of motion of the spreading substance shows a satisfactory fit.


Polar Record ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 15 (99) ◽  
pp. 877-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles L. Smith

Until the early 20th century, exploration of the Arctic Basin was hindered by the lack of vehicles that could traverse ice and water as well as cross leads and pressure ridges. This lack affected not only movements of explorers themselves but also the transport of food, supplies, and the equipment required to sustain life in an inhospitable environment. In 1925, however, an aircraft made the first successful landing on pack ice and ushered in an era of scientific stations on the pack ice itself.


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