Definition
Any form of ice found at sea that has originated from the freezing of seawater (WMO, 1970). Icebergs and ice islands, also found in the polar oceans, are ice of land origin.
Introduction
Sea ice occurs in about 10% of the surface of the world ocean. Perennial ice is found in high polar latitudes in the Central Arctic Ocean, in the East Greenland Current, and in the western Weddell Sea. The seasonal sea ice zone extends on average to 60° latitudes, not so low in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean but more south in subarctic shallow semi-enclosed seas. Sea ice renewal time is short due to ice melting and advection; perennial ice is mostly less than 10 years old. Solid sea ice lids are statically unstable and break into fields of ice floes, undergoing transport, as well as opening and ridging that altogether create the exciting sea ice landscape as it appears to a human eye (Figure 1).
Sea ice cover over the Barents Sea and part of the Central Arctic Ocean shown in...
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Bibliography
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Leppäranta, M. (2011). Sea Ice. In: Singh, V.P., Singh, P., Haritashya, U.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2642-2_465
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