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Editor's Highlight
Subscriber Access to Full Article (Nonsubscribers may purchase for $9.00, Includes print PDF, file size: 628585 bytes)
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 34,
L16501,
doi:10.1029/2007GL030447,
2007
Thermal evolution of permeability and microstructure in sea ice
K. M. Golden
University of Utah, Department of Mathematics, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
H. Eicken
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
A. L. Heaton
University of Utah, Department of Mathematics, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
J. Miner
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
D. J. Pringle
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA Arctic Region Supercomputing Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
J. Zhu
University of Utah, Department of Mathematics, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Abstract
The fluid permeability k of sea ice constrains a broad range of processes, such as the growth and decay of seasonal ice, the evolution of summer ice
albedo, and biomass build-up. Such processes are critical to how sea ice and associated ecosystems respond to climate change.
However, studies of k and its dependence on brine porosity and microstructure are sparse. Here we present a multifaceted theory for k( ) which closely captures laboratory and field data. X-ray computed tomography provides an unprecedented look at the brine
phase and its connectivity. We find that sea ice displays universal transport properties remarkably similar to crustal rocks,
yet over a much narrower temperature range. Our results yield simple parameterizations for fluid transport in terms of temperature
and salinity, and permit more realistic representations of sea ice in global climate and biological models.
Received 20
April
2007;
accepted 27
June
2007;
published 16
August
2007.
Keywords: sea ice;
permeability;
microstructure.
Index Terms: 0456 Biogeosciences: Life in extreme environments; 0750 Cryosphere: Sea ice (4540); 1621 Global Change: Cryospheric change (0776); 4207 Oceanography: General: Arctic and Antarctic oceanography (9310, 9315).
Subscriber Access to Full Article (Nonsubscribers may purchase for $9.00, Includes print PDF, file size: 628585 bytes)
Citation: Golden, K. M., H. Eicken, A. L. Heaton, J. Miner, D. J. Pringle, and J. Zhu
(2007),
Thermal evolution of permeability and microstructure in sea ice,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
34,
L16501,
doi:10.1029/2007GL030447.
Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.
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