Structural characteristics and development of sea ice in the western Ross Sea

Abstract

The internal structure of ice cores from western Ross Sea pack ice floes showed considerable diversity. Snow-ice formation made a small, but significant contribution to ice growth. Frazil ice was common and its growth clearly occurred during both the pancake cycle and deformation events. Congelation ice was also common, in both its crystallographically aligned and non-aligned varieties. Platelet ice was found in only one core next to the Drygalski Ice Tongue, an observation adding to the increasing evidence that this unusual ice type occurs primarily in coastal pack ice near ice tongues and ice shelves. The diverse internal structure of the floes indicates that sea ice development in the Ross Sea is as complex as that in the Weddell Sea and more complex than in the Arctic. The mean ice thickness at the ice core sites varied between 0.71 m and 1.52 m. The thinnest ice generally occurred in the outer pack ice zone. Regardless of latitude, the ice thickness data are further evidence that Antarctic sea ice is thinner than Arctic sea ice.