Recent sea-ice advances in Baffin Bay/Davis Strait and retreats in the Bellingshausen Sea

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.1017/s0260305500016050 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

pp. 348-352 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Claire L. Parkinson

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Temporal Context ◽

Upward Trend ◽

Baffin Bay ◽

The Past ◽

Ice Coverage ◽

Bellingshausen Sea ◽

Davis Strait

Recently reported decreases in the summertime ice coverage of the Bellingshausen Sea over the period 1988–91 have been mentioned in the popular press with some loss of the larger spatial and temporal context in which they occurred. Experience over the past two decades with the continually lengthening satellite record has frequently revealed prominent increases or decreases in regional or even hemispheric sea-ice coverage which last for a several-year period and are then reversed. Also, in almost any several-year period in the short satellite record available, at least one region could be highlighted as having prominent ice-cover increases and at least one as having prominent ice-cover decreases. In the 1988–91 period of low ice coverage in the Bellingshausen Sea, mid-winter sea-ice extents noticeably increased in the Baffin Bay/Davis Strait region. Placed in the longer temporal context of ice extents since the late 1970s, the ice-extent increases from 1988 to 1991 in Baffin Bay/Davis Strait conform much better with an interpretation of cyclically varying wintertime ice extents than with one of a long-term upward trend. The time series for the Bellingshausen Sea also shows marked multi-year fluctuations and, although in the 1989–91 period the summertime coverage was unusually low, the wintertime ice coverage noticeably increased.

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Trends and variability of sea ice in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, 1953–2001

Polar Research ◽

10.3402/polar.v22i1.6438 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 11-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Harry L. Stern ◽

Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Baffin Bay ◽

Davis Strait

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The implications of selected processing methods on satellite altimetry derived sea ice thickness state and trends in the seasonal ice zone

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12240 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Isolde Glissenaar ◽

Jack Landy ◽

Alek Petty ◽

Nathan Kurtz ◽

Julienne Stroeve

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Snow Depth ◽

Satellite Altimetry ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

The Arctic ◽

Ice Thickness ◽

Sea Ice Thickness ◽

Baffin Bay ◽

The Impact

The ice cover of the Arctic Ocean is increasingly becoming dominated by seasonal sea ice. It is important to focus on the processing of altimetry ice thickness data in thinner seasonal ice regions to understand seasonal sea ice behaviour better. This study focusses on Baffin Bay as a region of interest to study seasonal ice behaviour.We aim to reconcile the spring sea ice thickness derived from multiple satellite altimetry sensors and sea ice charts in Baffin Bay and produce a robust long-term record (2003-2020) for analysing trends in sea ice thickness. We investigate the impact of choosing different snow depth products (the Warren climatology, a passive microwave snow depth product and modelled snow depth from reanalysis data) and snow redistribution methods (a sigmoidal function and an empirical piecewise function) to retrieve sea ice thickness from satellite altimetry sea ice freeboard data.The choice of snow depth product and redistribution method results in an uncertainty envelope around the March mean sea ice thickness in Baffin Bay of 10%. Moreover, the sea ice thickness trend ranges from -15 cm/dec to 20 cm/dec depending on the applied snow depth product and redistribution method. Previous studies have shown a possible long-term asymmetrical trend in sea ice thinning in Baffin Bay. The present study shows that whether a significant long-term asymmetrical trend was found depends on the choice of snow depth product and redistribution method. The satellite altimetry sea ice thickness results with different snow depth products and snow redistribution methods show that different processing techniques can lead to different results and can influence conclusions on total and spatial sea ice thickness trends. Further processing work on the historic radar altimetry record is needed to create reliable sea ice thickness products in the marginal ice zone.

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Antarctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2010

The Cryosphere Discussions ◽

10.5194/tcd-6-931-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 931-956 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

C. L. Parkinson ◽

D. J. Cavalieri

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Sea Ice ◽

Ross Sea ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

The Arctic ◽

Future Research ◽

Positive Trend ◽

Antarctic Sea Ice ◽

Ice Coverage

Abstract. In sharp contrast to the decreasing sea ice coverage of the Arctic, in the Antarctic the sea ice cover has, on average, expanded since the late 1970s. More specifically, satellite passive-microwave data for the period November 1978–December 2010 reveal an overall positive trend in ice extents of 17 100 ± 2300 km2 yr−1. Much of the increase, at 13 700 ± 1500 km2 yr−1, has occurred in the region of the Ross Sea, with lesser contributions from the Weddell Sea and Indian Ocean. One region, that of the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas, has, like the Arctic, instead experienced significant sea ice decreases, with an overall ice extent trend of −8200 ± 1200 km2 yr−1. When examined through the annual cycle over the 32-yr period 1979–2010, the Southern Hemisphere sea ice cover as a whole experienced positive ice extent trends in every month, ranging in magnitude from a low of 9100 ± 6300 km2 yr−1 in February to a high of 24 700 ± 10 000 km2 yr−1 in May. The Ross Sea and Indian Ocean also had positive trends in each month, while the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas had negative trends in each month, and the Weddell Sea and Western Pacific Ocean had a mixture of positive and negative trends. Comparing ice-area results to ice-extent results, in each case the ice-area trend has the same sign as the ice-extent trend, but differences in the magnitudes of the two trends identify regions with overall increasing ice concentrations and others with overall decreasing ice concentrations. The strong pattern of decreasing ice coverage in the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas region and increasing ice coverage in the Ross Sea region is suggestive of changes in atmospheric circulation. This is a key topic for future research.

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Holocene variability in sea ice and primary productivity in the northeastern Baffin Bay

arktos ◽

10.1007/s41063-020-00075-y ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1-3) ◽

pp. 55-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jeetendra Saini ◽

Ruediger Stein ◽

Kirsten Fahl ◽

Jens Weiser ◽

Dierk Hebbeln ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Ocean Circulation ◽

Water Discharge ◽

Greenland Ice Sheet ◽

Open Water ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Baffin Bay ◽

Arctic Sea ◽

Ice Edge

AbstractArctic sea ice is a critical component of the climate system, known to influence ocean circulation, earth’s albedo, and ocean–atmosphere heat and gas exchange. Current developments in the use of IP25 (a sea ice proxy with 25 carbon atoms only synthesized by Arctic sea ice diatoms) have proven it to be a suitable proxy for paleo-sea ice reconstructions over hundreds of thousands to even millions of years. In the NE Baffin Bay, off NW Greenland, Melville Bugt is a climate-sensitive region characterized by strong seasonal sea ice variability and strong melt-water discharge from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS). Here, we present a centennial-scale resolution Holocene sea ice record, based on IP25 and open-water phytoplankton biomarkers (brassicasterol, dinosterol and HBI III) using core GeoB19927-3 (73° 35.26′ N, 58° 05.66′ W). Seasonal to ice-edge conditions near the core site are documented for most of the Holocene period with some significant variability. In the lower-most part, a cold interval characterized by extensive sea ice cover and very low local productivity is succeeded by an interval (~ 9.4–8.5 ka BP) with reduced sea ice cover, enhanced GIS spring melting, and strong influence of the West Greenland Current (WGC). From ~ 8.5 until ~ 7.8 ka BP, a cooling event is recorded by ice algae and phytoplankton biomarkers. They indicate an extended sea ice cover, possibly related to the opening of Nares Strait, which may have led to an increased influx of Polar Water into NE-Baffin Bay. The interval between ~ 7.8 and ~ 3.0 ka BP is characterized by generally reduced sea ice cover with millennial-scale variability of the (late winter/early spring) ice-edge limit, increased open-water conditions (polynya type), and a dominant WGC carrying warm waters at least as far as the Melville Bugt area. During the last ~ 3.0 ka BP, our biomarker records do not reflect the late Holocene ‘Neoglacial cooling’ observed elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, possibly due to the persistent influence of the WGC and interactions with the adjacent fjords. Peaks in HBI III at about ~ 2.1 and ~ 1.3 ka BP, interpreted as persistent ice-edge situations, might correlate with the Roman Warm Period (RWP) and Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), respectively, in-phase with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) mode. When integrated with marine and terrestrial records from other circum-Baffin Bay areas (Disko Bay, the Canadian Arctic, the Labrador Sea), the Melville Bugt biomarker records point to close ties with high Arctic and Northern Hemispheric climate conditions, driven by solar and oceanic circulation forcings.

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Antarctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2010

The Cryosphere ◽

10.5194/tc-6-871-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 871-880 ◽

Cited By ~ 292

Author(s):

C. L. Parkinson ◽

D. J. Cavalieri

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Sea Ice ◽

Ross Sea ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

The Arctic ◽

Future Research ◽

Positive Trend ◽

Antarctic Sea Ice ◽

Ice Coverage

Abstract. In sharp contrast to the decreasing sea ice coverage of the Arctic, in the Antarctic the sea ice cover has, on average, expanded since the late 1970s. More specifically, satellite passive-microwave data for the period November 1978–December 2010 reveal an overall positive trend in ice extents of 17 100 ± 2300 km2 yr−1. Much of the increase, at 13 700 ± 1500 km2 yr−1, has occurred in the region of the Ross Sea, with lesser contributions from the Weddell Sea and Indian Ocean. One region, that of the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas, has (like the Arctic) instead experienced significant sea ice decreases, with an overall ice extent trend of −8200 ± 1200 km2 yr−1. When examined through the annual cycle over the 32-yr period 1979–2010, the Southern Hemisphere sea ice cover as a whole experienced positive ice extent trends in every month, ranging in magnitude from a low of 9100 ± 6300 km2 yr−1 in February to a high of 24 700 ± 10 000 km2 yr−1 in May. The Ross Sea and Indian Ocean also had positive trends in each month, while the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas had negative trends in each month, and the Weddell Sea and western Pacific Ocean had a mixture of positive and negative trends. Comparing ice-area results to ice-extent results, in each case the ice-area trend has the same sign as the ice-extent trend, but the magnitudes of the two trends differ, and in some cases these differences allow inferences about the corresponding changes in sea ice concentrations. The strong pattern of decreasing ice coverage in the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas region and increasing ice coverage in the Ross Sea region is suggestive of changes in atmospheric circulation. This is a key topic for future research.

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MINERALOGY AS AN INDICATOR OF LONG-TERM CURRENT FLUCTUATIONS IN BAFFIN BAY

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e66-015 ◽

1966 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 191-201 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

J. I. Marlowe

Keyword(s):

Size Range ◽

Coarse Sand ◽

Coarse Grained ◽

Current Fluctuations ◽

Baffin Bay ◽

Core Samples ◽

The Past

A study of core samples from Baffin Bay indicates that gravel and coarse sand occur in all parts of the bay. Fragments in this size range are considered to have been transported into the area by floating ice. This coarse-grained sediment is rich in granitic detritus, but samples from an area within approximately 200 km of the Canadian coast also contain limestone fragments. The distribution of limestone fragments on the bottom coincides closely with the track of the Baffin Land current, in which icebergs originating in areas of limestone outcrop move southward through the bay. The distribution of limestone detritus in subbottom samples, however, suggests that the Baffin Land current has in the past flowed over a wider area than it does at present.

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20th-century sea-ice variations from observational data

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/172756401781818671 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 33 ◽

pp. 444-448 ◽

Cited By ~ 99

Author(s):

John E. Walsh ◽

William L. Chapman

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

20Th Century ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Climate Models ◽

Global Climate ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Empirical Orthogonal Functions ◽

Global Climate Models ◽

The Past ◽

Ice Coverage

AbstractIn order to extend diagnoses of recent sea-ice variations beyond the past few decades, a century-scale digital dataset of Arctic sea-ice coverage has been compiled. For recent decades, the compilation utilizes satellite-derived hemispheric datasets. Regional datasets based primarily on ship reports and aerial reconnaissance are the primary inputs for the earlier part of the 20th century. While the various datasets contain some discrepancies, they capture the same general variations during their period of overlap. The outstanding feature of the time series of total hemispheric ice extent is a decrease that has accelerated during the past several decades. The decrease is greatest in summer and weakest in winter, contrary to the seasonality of the greenhouse changes projected by most global climate models. The primary spatial modes of sea-ice variability diagnosed in terms of empirical orthogonal functions, also show a strong seasonality. The first winter mode is dominated by an opposition of anomalies in the western and eastern North Atlantic, corresponding to the well-documented North Atlantic Oscillation. The primary summer mode depicts an anomaly of the same sign over nearly the entire Arctic and captures the recent trend of sea-ice coverage.

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