Seasonal development of the properties and composition of landfast sea ice in the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea

Abstract

The seasonal development of the structure, salinity, and stable oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O) of landfast sea ice was studied during the winter seasons 1999–2001 in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. The main focuses were on the seasonal and the interannual variability in ice properties and composition and on the contribution of meteoric ice to sea ice mass balance. Results provide a first statistical description of the seasonal evolution of sea ice in mild ice climate conditions. The ice has a characteristic structure with an upper granular ice layer, composed almost exclusively of superimposed ice and snow‐ice, averaging at 20–35% of the total ice thickness. The remaining is composed of columnar or intermediate granular columnar ice, depending on growth conditions. While salinity shows a uniform profile through the ice, δ18O shows lower values in the surface because of meteoric ice formation. The thin ice cover is susceptible to changes in atmospheric conditions, and rapid changes in ice salinity are connected to changes in the ice thermal regime and flooding. The contribution of meteoric ice varied from 0 to 35% (by mass), depending on season and year. Superimposed ice formation is a recurring process and significantly contributed to ice growth (up to 20% by mass), especially late in the season during snowmelt‐freeze cycles. Liquid precipitation also cause formation of intermittent superimposed ice layers at these latitudes. The contribution of meteoric ice to sea ice mass balance is largely dependent on the amount and timing of snow accumulation and timing of snowmelt‐freeze processes, which all showed large year‐to‐year variation. The conditions presented here may start to occur at higher latitudes if global warming continues.