Sea ice melting in the marginal ice zone

Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans
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Abstract

The heat and salt flux boundary conditions together with the freezing curve relationship are a necessary component of any ice-sea water thermodynamic model. A neutral two-layer oceanic planetary boundary layer model that incorporates these boundary conditions gives the following results: The interfacial salinity is within 10% of the far-field salinity for conditions commonly encountered in the MIZ and depends only on the turbulent Lewis number and the far-field temperature and salinity. The predicted melt rates agree with the limited field observations, of the order of 1 m day−1. The Obukov lengths, determined from the predicted interface conditions and melt rates, are generally much greater than the Ekman layer thicknesses; hence, the surface buoyancy flux has little effect on the turbulence in the planetary boundary layer.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Sea ice melting in the marginal ice zone
Series title Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans
DOI 10.1029/JC088iC05p02841
Volume 88
Issue C5
Publication Date September 20, 2012
Year Published 1983
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Description 4 p.
First page 2841
Last page 2844
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