Formation and distribution of sea ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence: A process‐oriented study using a coupled ocean‐ice model

Abstract

AbstractA coupled ocean‐ice model for the eastern Canadian shelf is used to examine main physical processes affecting sea ice conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL) and adjacent waters. The coupled model is based on NEMO and uses OPA9 as the ocean circulation component and LIM2 as the ice model. The coupled model is forced by atmospheric reanalysis fields produced by Large and Yeager (2004). The model results are used to examine the roles of thermodynamics and dynamics on sea ice distributions and patterns of ice production and melting, and the influence of ice capping on the circulation in the study region. Analysis of model results indicates that local production of sea ice is important in shallower areas over the northern and western GSL. Equatorward advection of sea ice from the St. Lawrence Estuary is affected significantly by the Gaspé Current. An index is used to quantify the relative importance of thermodynamic and dynamics of sea ice in the GSL. It is found that both thermodynamics and dynamics are important over most of the GSL, except for waters around Anticosti Island, in the southeastern Gulf, and over the eastern Scotian Shelf, where dynamics (or sea ice movements) are the most important mechanism for the presence of sea ice. The study also demonstrates that ice capping significantly reduces the strength of the winter circulation in the GSL.