Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

The Cryosphere, 9(15), p. 4517-4525, 2021

DOI: 10.5194/tc-15-4517-2021

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Meltwater sources and sinks for multiyear Arctic sea ice in summer

Journal article published in 2021 by Don Perovich ORCID, Madison Smith ORCID, Bonnie Light ORCID, Melinda Webster
This paper was not found in any repository; the policy of its publisher is unknown or unclear.
This paper was not found in any repository; the policy of its publisher is unknown or unclear.

Full text: Unavailable

Question mark in circle
Preprint: policy unknown
Question mark in circle
Postprint: policy unknown
Question mark in circle
Published version: policy unknown

Abstract

On Arctic sea ice, the melt of snow and sea ice generate a summertime flux of fresh water to the upper ocean. The partitioning of this meltwater to storage in melt ponds and deposition in the ocean has consequences for the surface heat budget, the sea ice mass balance, and primary productivity. Synthesizing results from the 1997–1998 SHEBA field experiment, we calculate the sources and sinks of meltwater produced on a multiyear floe during summer melt. The total meltwater input to the system from snowmelt, ice melt, and precipitation from 1 June to 9 August was equivalent to a layer of water 80 cm thick over the ice-covered and open ocean. A total of 85 % of this meltwater was deposited in the ocean, and only 15 % of this meltwater was stored in ponds. The cumulative contributions of meltwater input to the ocean from drainage from the ice surface and bottom melting were roughly equal.