Abstract/Summary

Leads 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.