AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Editors' Highlight

A unified approach to understanding permeability in sea ice

Polar sea ice is an indicator and regulator of climate change; its thinning and retreat show the effects of climate warming, and its presence greatly reduces solar heating of the polar oceans. Sea ice also is a primary habitat for microbial communities, sustaining marine food webs. The permeability of sea ice and its ability to transport brine are important to many problems in geophysics and biology, yet remain poorly understood. Golden et al. (2007) generated a unified picture of sea ice permeability through analytical and numerical modeling, as well as through comparisons with field and laboratory measurements. The latter included X-ray computed tomography of sea ice pore microstructure as a function of temperature. Their study demonstrated that sea ice displays universal transport properties similar to fluid transport in some crustal rocks, though over a much narrower temperature range. The authors presented permeability in terms of temperature and bulk salinity, preparing the way for more realistic representations of sea ice evolution in climate and biogeochemical models.

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