Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-37
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-37
09 Mar 2023
 | 09 Mar 2023
Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal TC.

The effect of partial dissolution on sea-ice chemical transport: a combined model–observational study using poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

Max Thomas, Briana Cate, Jack Garnett, Inga J. Smith, Martin Vancoppenolle, and Crispin Halsall

Abstract. We investigate the effect of partial dissolution on the transport of chemicals in sea ice. Physically plausible mechanisms are added to a brine convection model that decouple chemicals from convecting brine. The model is evaluated against a recent observational dataset where a suite of qualitatively similar chemicals (poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS) with quantitatively different physico-chemical properties were frozen into growing sea ice. With no decoupling the model performs poorly – failing to reproduce the measured concentrations of high chain-length PFAS. A decoupling scheme where PFAS are decoupled from salinity as a constant fraction, and a scheme where decoupling is proportional to the brine salinity, give better performance and bring the model into reasonable agreement with observations. A scheme where the decoupling is proportional to the internal sea-ice surface area performs poorly. All decoupling schemes capture a general enrichment of longer chained PFAS and can produce concentrations in the uppermost sea-ice layers above that of the underlying water concentration, as observed. Our results show that decoupling from convecting brine can enrich chemical concentrations in growing sea ice and can lead to bulk chemical concentrations greater than that of the liquid from which the sea ice is growing. Brine convection modelling is useful for predicting the dynamics of chemicals with more complex behaviour than sea salt, highlighting the potential of these modelling tools for a range of biogeochemical research.

Max Thomas et al.

Status: final response (author comments only)

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on tc-2023-37', Anonymous Referee #1, 13 Mar 2023
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Max Thomas, 25 May 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on tc-2023-37', Anonymous Referee #2, 04 May 2023
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Max Thomas, 25 May 2023

Max Thomas et al.

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Reproduction capsule for The effect of partial dissolution on sea-ice chemical transport: a combined model--observational study using poly- and perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) Max Thomas, Briana Cate, Jack Garnett, Martin Vancoppenolle, Inga J. Smith, and Crispin Halsall https://doi.org/10.24433/CO.6237417.v1

Max Thomas et al.

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Short summary
A recent study showed that pollutants can be enriched in growing sea ice beyond what we would expect from a perfectly dissolved chemical. We hypothesise that this effect is caused by the specific properties of the pollutants working in combination with fluid moving through the sea ice. To test our hypothesis, we replicate this behaviour in a sea-ice model, and show that this type of modelling can be turned to predicting the transport of chemicals with complex behaviour in sea ice.