Frazil ice growth and production during katabatic wind events in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Thompson, Lisa; Smith, Madison; Thomson, Jim; Stammerjohn, Sharon; Ackley, Steve; Loose, Brice

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3329-2020

Articles | Volume 14, issue 10

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3329-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3329-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 10

Research article

|

06 Oct 2020

Research article |

| 06 Oct 2020

Frazil ice growth and production during katabatic wind events in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Lisa Thompson, Madison Smith, Jim Thomson, Sharon Stammerjohn, Steve Ackley, and Brice Loose

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3329-2020-supplement

Data sets

NBP1704 CTD sensor data Sharon Stammerjohn https://doi.org/10.15784/601192

Short summary

The offshore winds around Antarctica can reach hurricane strength and produce intense cooling, causing the surface ocean to form a slurry of seawater and ice crystals. For the first time, we observed a buildup of heat and salt in the surface ocean, caused by loose ice crystal formation. We conclude that up to 1 m of ice was formed per day by the intense cooling, suggesting that unconsolidated crystals may be an important part of the total freezing that happens around Antarctica.