Influence Of Sea Ice Research Articles

Quantifying the influence of sea ice on ocean microseism using observations from the Bering Sea, Alaska

Microseism is potentially affected by all processes that alter ocean wave heights. Because strong sea ice prevents large ocean waves from forming, sea ice can therefore significantly affect microseism amplitudes. Here we show that this link between sea ice and microseism is not only a robust one but can be quantified. In particular, we show that 75–90% of the variability in microseism power in the Bering Sea can be predicted using a fairly crude model of microseism damping by sea ice. The success of this simple parameterization suggests that an even stronger link can be established between the mechanical strength of sea ice and microseism power, and that microseism can eventually be used to monitor the strength of sea ice, a quantity that is not as easily observed through other means.

Autumn atmospheric response to the 2007 low Arctic sea ice extent in coupled ocean–atmosphere hindcasts

The autumn and early winter atmospheric response to the record-low Arctic sea ice extent at the end of summer 2007 is examined in ensemble hindcasts with prescribed sea ice extent, made with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts state-of-the-art coupled ocean–atmosphere seasonal forecast model. Robust, warm anomalies over the Pacific and Siberian sectors of the Arctic, as high as 10°C at the surface, are found in October and November. A regime change occurs by December, characterized by weaker temperatures anomalies extending through the troposphere. Geopotential anomalies extend from the surface up to the stratosphere, associated to deeper Aleutian and Icelandic Lows. While the upper-level jet is weakened and shifted southward over the continents, it is intensified over both oceanic sectors, especially over the Pacific Ocean. On the American and Eurasian continents, intensified surface Highs are associated with anomalous advection of cold (warm) polar air on their eastern (western) sides, bringing cooler temperatures along the Pacific coast of Asia and Northeastern North America. Transient eddy activity is reduced over Eurasia, intensified over the entrance and exit regions of the Pacific and Atlantic storm tracks, in broad qualitative agreement with the upper-level wind anomalies. Potential predictability calculations indicate a strong influence of sea ice upon surface temperatures over the Arctic in autumn, but also along the Pacific coast of Asia in December. When the observed sea ice extent from 2007 is prescribed throughout the autumn, a higher correlation of surface temperatures with meteorological re-analyses is found at high latitudes from October until mid-November. This further emphasises the relevance of sea ice for seasonal forecasting in the Arctic region, in the autumn.

An observation of the banded structure of the Antarctic Coastal Current at the prime meridian

Observations of three bands of westward flow and two countercurrents, spanning roughly 50 km from the ice-shelf edge in front of the Fimbul Ice Shelf (prime meridian) in Antarctica, are presented. A comparison with a numerical model and the proximity of two of these current cores to the ice shelf suggest that they split from the Antarctic Coastal Current because of the influence of sea ice on the surface drag. A comparison with previous studies suggests that the other core is the current associated with the Antarctic Slope Front. Because the Fimbul ice shelf overhangs the continental shelf, the Antarctic Coastal Current displaces offshore, getting close to the Antarctic Slope Front. The obtained structure is derived from conductivity–temperature–depth geostrophic velocities from February 2005, referenced with detided acoustic Doppler current profiler velocities.

Comparison of zooplankton vertical migration in an ice‐free and a seasonally ice‐covered Arctic fjord: An insight into the influence of sea ice cover on zooplankton behavior

We present observations of zooplankton diel vertical migration (DVM) over a period of 2 yr in an ice‐free and a seasonally ice‐covered Arctic fjord. The contrasting environments permitted assessment of the influences of physical and biological factors on temporal variability in DVM patterns and a test of the hypothesis that a reduction in summer sea ice extent and thickness following climatic warming will lead to changes in DVM via the loss of a shading effect on the pelagic marine environment. Acoustic backscatter and vertical velocity data from moored 300‐kHz acoustic Doppler current profilers were used to derive DVM patterns, while measurements of sea ice and snow thickness enabled assessment of the underwater light environment and consideration of its potential to influence DVM. Pronounced differences in DVM between the sites emerged during summertime when intermittent synchronized DVM was observed at the ice‐free site, whereas the ice‐covered site was characterized by asynchronous behavior, thereby highlighting the influence of sea ice. Notably, the 0.8‐m‐thick sea ice cover was deemed important for its influence on water column properties such as food, turbidity, and zooplankton species composition, as indicated by biological samples from moored sediment traps, rather than a simple shading of the ocean and direct modification of zooplankton DVM. Loss of Arctic sea ice is likely to have an indirect but substantial effect on zooplankton DVM via modification of hydrography and composition of the pelagic community.

Orbital and suborbital environmental changes in the southern Bering Sea during the last 50 kyr

High-resolution geochemical, paleontological and lithological records of two sediment cores in the southern Bering Sea manifest regional environmental changes over the last 50 kyr on orbital and millennial time scales. High ice rafted debris (IRD) content and percentages of radiolarian species Cycladophora davisiana (Ehrenberg) during Marine Isotope Stages (MISs) 3 and 2 indicate active intermediate water ventilation driven by intensive winter sea ice formation in the southern Bering Sea. Although the total abundance of siliceous microfossils in glacial sediments is relatively low, glacial productivity is higher than in the Late Holocene. On the millennial time scale, decreases in the abundance of calcareous and siliceous microfossils and in C. davisiana % at studied core may imply enhancement of sea ice influence synchronous with Heinrich events H 5 to 2. Changes in the δ 18O of fossil benthic and planktonic foraminifera during H 5–3 are inferred to be related to variability in ice sheet volume similar to the pattern from Antarctica accompanied by glacioeustatic sea-level fluctuations up to 20–30 m in amplitude. The maximum benthic and planktonic δ 18O values in the studied cores occur during the LGM when sea level was at the lowest stand and sea bottom water temperature was around − 0.4 °C. Strong environmental changes during the Heinrich event 1 and B/A warming in the southern Bering Sea provide evidence of deglacial injection of very old water and the subsequent increase in productivity due to surface and intermediate water mixing. From the LGM to the mid-Holocene the δ 18O benth foram changes corresponded to changes in the global deep-water δ 18O and a rise in the deep-water temperature to + 1.0 °C at 8.5–6.5 kyr BP. The subsequent environmental changes in late Holocene helped establishment of near modern-day hydrological and environmental conditions, featuring strong surface water stratification and weakened deep-water ventilation.

Comparison of zooplankton vertical migration in an ice-free and a seasonally ice-covered Arctic fjord: An insight into the influence of sea ice cover on zooplankton behavior

We present observations of zooplankton diel vertical migration (DVM) over a period of 2 yr in an ice-free and a seasonally ice-covered Arctic fjord. The contrasting environments permitted assessment of the influences of physical and biological factors on temporal variability in DVM patterns and a test of the hypothesis that a reduction in summer sea ice extent and thickness following climatic warming will lead to changes in DVM via the loss of a shading effect on the pelagic marine environment. Acoustic backscatter and vertical velocity data from moored 300-kHz acoustic Doppler current profilers were used to derive DVM patterns, while measurements of sea ice and snow thickness enabled assessment of the underwater light environment and consideration of its potential to influence DVM. Pronounced differences in DVM between the sites emerged during summertime when intermittent synchronized DVM was observed at the ice-free site, whereas the ice-covered site was characterized by asynchronous behavior, thereby highlighting the influence of sea ice. Notably, the 0.8-m-thick sea ice cover was deemed important for its influence on water column properties such as food, turbidity, and zooplankton species composition, as indicated by biological samples from moored sediment traps, rather than a simple shading of the ocean and direct modification of zooplankton DVM. Loss of Arctic sea ice is likely to have an indirect but substantial effect on zooplankton DVM via modification of hydrography and composition of the pelagic community.

Early to mid-Pliocene environmentally constrained diatom assemblages from the AND-1B drillcore, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

In extended lower to mid-Pliocene stratigraphic record of near-shore environmental variation in the southwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica is preserved in ANDRILL’s McMurdo Ice Shelf Project AND-1B drillcore.A94meter-thick sequence of three diatomite and diatomaceous mudstone intervals represents the highest latitude record (78° S) of persistent open-marine conditions on the Antarctic continental shelf, in response to a protracted period of Pliocene warmth. This core provides new chronostratigraphic control for Antarctic paleoclimatic events, and describes a sequence of distinct diatom assemblages comprised of both extant and extinct species that are unknown on the Antarctic shelf today. Common taxa include those with modern distributions close to the Polar Frontal Zone (e.g. Shionodiscus tetraoestrupii, Stellarima stellaris, Thalassionema nitzschioides), suggesting marine temperatures in the southwestern Ross Sea warmer than at present. Representatives of the modern sea-ice assemblage (e.g. Fragilariopsis curta, Stellarima microtrias) and cold open-marine species associated with the retreating sea-ice front (e.g. Eucampia antarctica var. recta) are also present, but in much lower abundance than in the Ross Sea today as suggested by core top and surface sample data. The co-occurrence of species from these three distinct modern environments in Pliocene sediments, in close proximity to the continent, suggests that modern ecological zonal concepts cannot be applied directly in Pliocene paleoenvironmental analyses. Species present in the 4 m-thick lowest diatomite unit (~4.5 Ma) indicate a cold openmarine environment,with the period of deposition likely comprising the length of one interglacial period. The middle diatomite unit (~4.1-4.3 Ma; 14m) records warmer and perhaps seasonally mixed conditions with often abundant Thalassionema nitzschioides and Shionodiscus tetraoestrupii and little evidence of sea-ice associated species. Documentation of changes in diatom assemblages through the upper 75m-thick diatomite interval (~3.3-3.6Ma) offers the opportunity to resolve environmental limits of Pliocene diatom species thatwill serve as a guide to diatom-based paleoenvironmental interpretations for other Pliocene deposits. This upper unit records deposition during several glacial/interglacial cycles indicating an extended interval with open marine productivity during the mid-Pliocene. In addition, environmental associations for extinct species are inferred by their co-occurrence with extant taxa. Persistent intervals of pure diatomite suggest high productivity in an open-marine setting and minimal to no influence of sea ice. Commonly occurring species can be placed in five ecological cateories; Neritic/Stratified, Warm, Cold/Sea Ice, Heavy/Wind Mixed and Mixed. Comparison of this long diatom-bearing interval with coeval Antarctic deposits presents a regional and continental picture of Pliocene warmth, suggesting East Antarctic Ice Sheet was smaller with sub-polar marginal conditions.

Recent changes in the North Atlantic circulation simulated with eddy-permitting and eddy-resolving ocean models

Three eddy-permitting (1/4°) versions and one eddy-resolving (1/12°) version of the OCCAM ocean model are used to simulate the World Ocean circulation since 1985. The first eddy-permitting simulation has been used extensively in previous studies, and provides a point of reference. A second, improved, eddy-permitting simulation is forced in the same manner as the eddy-resolving simulation, with a dataset based on a blend of NCEP re-analysis and satellite data. The third eddy-permitting simulation is forced with a different dataset, based on the ERA-40 re-analysis data. Inter-comparison of these simulations in the North Atlantic clarifies the relative importance of resolution and choice of forcing dataset, for simulating the mean state and recent variability of the basin-scale circulation in that region. Differences between the first and second eddy-permitting simulations additionally reveal an erroneous influence of sea ice on surface salinity, dense water formation, and the meridional overturning circulation. Simulations are further evaluated in terms of long-term mean ocean heat transport at selected latitudes (for which hydrographic estimates are available) and sea surface temperature errors (relative to observations). By these criteria, closest agreement with observations is obtained for the eddy-resolving simulation. In this simulation, there is also a weak decadal variation in mid-latitudes, with heat transport strongest, by around 0.2 PW, in the mid-1990s. In two of the eddy-permitting simulations, by contrast, heat transport weakens through the study period, by up to 0.4 PW in mid-latitudes. The most notable changes of heat transport in all simulations are linked to a weakening of the subpolar gyre, rather than changes in the meridional overturning circulation. It is concluded that recent changes in the structure of mid-latitude heat transport in the North Atlantic are more accurately represented if eddies are explicitly resolved.

516 海洋と大気間のメタン交換に及ぼす海氷の影響(環境工学・エンジンシステム)

516 海洋と大気間のメタン交換に及ぼす海氷の影響(環境工学・エンジンシステム)

Influence of sea ice on primary production in the Southern Ocean: A satellite perspective

Sea ice in the Southern Ocean is a major controlling factor on phytoplankton productivity, but the relationship is modified by regional differences in atmospheric and oceanographic conditions. We used the phytoplankton biomass, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and cloud cover data from Sea‐viewing Wide Field of View Sensor (SeaWiFS), ice concentrations data from Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer‐EOS (AMSR‐E), sea‐surface temperature data from advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR), and a vertically integrated model to estimate primary productivity south of 60°S. We also selected six areas within the Southern Ocean and analyzed the variability of the primary productivity and trends through time. We found substantial interannual variability in productivity from 1997 to 2005 in all regions of the Southern Ocean, and this variability appeared to be driven in large part by ice dynamics. The most productive regions of Antarctic waters were the continental shelves, and no sustained blooms occurred in waters of greater depth (>1000 m). We suggest that this is due to the slightly greater mixed layer depths found in waters off the continental shelf, and that the interactive effects of iron and irradiance result in the limitation of phytoplankton biomass over large regions of the Southern Ocean. Annual productivity of the Southern Ocean averaged 23.65 g C m−2 a−1, but yearly means for the years between 1998 and 2004 ranged from 22.10 to 25.49 g C m−2 d−1, respectively. Annual primary productivity over the entire Southern Ocean appears to have increased significantly since 1998, and much of this increase was confined to the months of January and February. Causes for this trend are presently unclear.

The Influence of Cryogenic Processes on the Erosional Arctic Shoreface

Coastal dynamics and shoreface relief in ice-free seas are a function of hydrodynamic interactions between the sea and bottom sediments. In the Arctic, additional, cryogenic factors such as permafrost and the action of sea ice influence coastal processes. The goal of our paper is to assess this influence, mainly on the profile shape. Mathematical analyses of the shape of 63 shoreface profiles from the Laptev, Beaufort, and Chukchi Seas were carried out. The shapes of Arctic shoreface profiles and those of ice-free seas are compared. We found that large ice and silt content in perennially frozen sediments composing Arctic coasts favor their erosion. Sea ice plays an important role in sediment transport on the shoreface and correspondingly changes shoreface relief significantly. Some effects of ice intensify coastal erosion considerably, but others play a protective role. The overall influence of cryogenic processes on Arctic coasts composed of loose sediments is seen in that the average rate of coastal retreat is larger than in the temperate environments, even though Arctic coasts are protected by a continuous ice cover most of the year. The shape of the shoreface profile in the Arctic does not differ from that in ice-free seas, and is satisfactorily described by the Bruun/Dean equilibrium profile equation. The explanation of this fact is that all changes of the profile shape, caused by cryogenic processes, are short lived and quickly eliminated by wave action.

Landscape features and sea ice influence nesting common eider abundance and dispersion

Factors that influence individual and colony spacing are still not well understood in many organisms. Common eiders ( Somateria mollissima (L. 1758)) nest on coastal islands and forage in intertidal and shallow subtidal waters. We considered several biotic and abiotic factors, their interactions, and how these might influence the distribution of eider colonies at several spatial scales in Labrador, Canada. At the island level, nest abundance was not related to intertidal prey density. At the 104 km2grid scale, eider nest abundance and the coefficient of dispersion (CD; the variance to mean ratio of colony size or grid cell, where CD indicates population dispersion) were negatively related to the number of islands. Spring ice cover was positively related to the number of islands but was negatively related to eider nest abundance and to CD. Ice cover – abundance and ice cover – CD were significant at two spatial scales (104 and 455 km2, respectively), but other relationships were weaker at the larger spatial scale. We hypothesize that during the spring, archipelagos with many islands trap ice, providing terrestrial predators access to nesting islands by acting as bridges and that increased predation reduces habitat quality causing nesting eiders to disperse. Our findings suggest that eiders respond to landscape features, including ice cover, a feature that is being influenced by climate change.

Influence of sea ice on the atmosphere: A study with an Arctic atmospheric regional climate model

The impact of the lower‐boundary forcing over ocean grid points, namely of sea surface temperature (SST), sea ice fraction, and sea ice thickness, on the mean atmospheric simulation is investigated with an Arctic atmospheric regional climate model. The assessment shows that the sea ice/SST forcing has an impact on the atmospheric simulations. The near‐surface air temperature response shows a strong, seasonally dependent sensitivity to sea ice changes. The response is small in summer but significant in winter, and changes in the marginal ice zone have the largest impact on the atmosphere. During winter, the realistic representation of the marginal sea ice zone is important as it contributes to the simulation of regional atmospheric circulation patterns and temperature profiles. Changes in sea ice thickness of the western Arctic lower boundary indicate an Arctic‐wide response in the large‐scale circulation and seem to have an impact on the troposphere‐stratosphere coupling. During summer the direct thermodynamic effect of sea ice changes is small, while the dynamic response is still of importance but smaller than in winter.

The Influence of Sea Ice on Ocean Heat Uptake in Response to Increasing CO2

Abstract Two significant changes in ocean heat uptake that occur in the vicinity of sea ice cover in response to increasing CO2 are investigated with Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3): a deep warming below ∼500 m and extending down several kilometers in the Southern Ocean and warming in a ∼200-m layer just below the surface in the Arctic Ocean. Ocean heat uptake caused by sea ice retreat is isolated by running the model with the sea ice albedo reduced artificially alone. This integration has a climate response with strong ocean heat uptake in the Southern Ocean and modest ocean heat uptake in the subsurface Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Ocean warming results from enhanced ocean heat transport from the northern North Atlantic. At the time of CO2 doubling, about 1/3 of the heat transport anomaly results from advection of anomalously warm water and 2/3 results from strengthened inflow. At the same time the overturning circulation is strengthened in the northern North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Wind stress changes cannot explain the circulation changes, which instead appear related to strengthened convection along the Siberian shelves. Deep ocean warming in the Southern Ocean is initiated by weakened convection, which is mainly a result of surface freshening through altered sea ice and ocean freshwater transport. Below about 500 m, changes in convection reduce the vertical and meridional temperature gradients in the Southern Ocean, which significantly reduce isopycnal diffusion of heat upward around Antarctica. The geometry of the sea ice cover and its influence on convection have a strong influence on ocean temperature gradients, making sea ice an important player in deep ocean heat uptake in the Southern Ocean.

Correlations between the satellite‐derived seasonal cycles of phytoplankton biomass and aerosol optical depth in the Southern Ocean: Evidence for the influence of sea ice

The relationship between the production of dimethylsulfide (DMS) in the upper ocean and atmospheric sulfate aerosols has been confirmed through local shipboard measurements, and global modeling studies alike. In order to examine whether such a connection may be recoverable in the satellite record, we have analyzed the correlation between mean surface chlorophyll (CHL) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the Southern Ocean, where the marine atmosphere is relatively remote from anthropogenic and continental influences. We carried out the analysis in 5‐degree zonal bands between 50°S and 70°S, for the period (1997–2004), and in smaller meridional sectors in the Eastern Antarctic, Ross and Weddell seas. Seasonality is moderate to strong in both CHL and AOD signatures throughout the study regions. Coherence in the CHL and AOD time series is strong in the band between 50°S and 60°S, however this synchrony is absent in the sea‐ice zone (SIZ) south of 60°S. Marked interannual variability in CHL occurs south of 60°S, presumably related to variability in sea‐ice production during the previous winter. We find a clear latitudinal difference in the cross correlation between CHL and AOD, with the AOD peak preceding the CHL bloom by up to 6 weeks in the SIZ. This suggests that substantial trace gas emissions (aerosol precursors) are being produced over the SIZ in spring (October–December) as sea ice melts. This hypothesis is supported by field data that record extremely high levels of sulfur species in sea ice, surface seawater, and the overlying atmosphere during ice melt.

Late‐glacial glacier events in southernmost south america: a blend of ‘northern’ and 'southern’ hemispheric climatic signals?

ABSTRACT. This paper examines new geomorphological, chronological and modelling data on glacier fluctuations in southernmost South America in latitudes 46–55°S during the last glacial–interglacial transition. Establishing leads and lags between the northern and southern hemispheres and between southern mid‐latitudes and Antarctica is key to an appreciation of the mechanisms and resilience of global climate. This is particularly important in the southern hemisphere where there is a paucity of empirical data. The overall structure of the last glacial cycle in Patagonia has a northern hemisphere signal. Glaciers reached or approached their Last Glacial Maxima on two or more occasions at 25–23 ka (calendar) and there was a third less extensive advance at 17.5 ka. Deglaciation occurred in two steps at 17.5 ka and at 11.4 ka. This structure is the same as that recognized in the northern hemisphere and taking place in spite of glacier advances occurring at a time of high southern hemisphere summer insolation and deglaciation at a time of decreasing summer insolation. The implication is that at orbital time scales the‘northern’ signal dominates any southern hemisphere signal. During deglaciation, at a millennial scale, the glacier fluctuations mirror an antiphase 'southern’ climatic signal as revealed in Antarctic ice cores. There is a glacier advance coincident with the Antarctic Cold Reversal at 15.3–12.2 ka. Furthermore, deglaciation begins in the middle of the Younger Dryas. The implication is that, during the last glacial–interglacial transition, southernmost South America was under the influence of sea surface temperatures, sea ice and southern westerlies responding to conditions in the 'southern’ Antarctic domain. Such asynchrony may reflect a situation whereby, during deglaciation, the world is more sensitized to fluctuations in the oceanic thermohaline circulation, perhaps related to the bipolar seesaw, than at orbital timescales.

Winter habitat use and foraging behavior of crabeater seals along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

We quantified the winter and spring movement patterns and foraging behavior of adult crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophagus), and the influence of sea ice and bathymetry on their foraging behavior. Thirty-four seals (16 M 18 F) were outfitted with Satellite Relay Data Loggers (SRDLs) in the Marguerite Bay Region of the Antarctic Peninsula (� 671S, 671W) during the austral winters of 2001 and 2002. Tags transmitted position and dive information for between 4 and 174 days. Overall, winter activity patterns differed significantly from previously reported data collected during the summer: seals in this study dived deeper (9270.2 m, range 6–713 m) and longer (5.26 min70.6, range 0.2–23.6 min), hauled out during the night rather than the day, and showed seasonal shifts in foraging patterns consistent with foraging on vertically migrating prey. While these patterns were more pronounced in 2001 than in 2002, there were no strong differences in patterns of habitat use between the 2 years. Some animals made long distance movements (furthest movements 664 km to northeast, 1147 km to southwest), but most seals remained within 300 km of their tagging location. Within the Marguerite Bay/Crystal Sound region, seals appeared to favor foraging locations on the continental shelf within the 50 to 450 m depth range, with a tendency to avoid depths of 600 m or greater. In both years, seals remained deep within the pack ice throughout the winter, and did not move into regions with less ice cover. Seals were more likely to be located in shallow water where the bathymetric gradients were greatest, and in areas of higher

Seasonality of blue and fin whale calls and the influence of sea ice in the Western Antarctic Peninsula

The calling seasonality of blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and fin (B. physalus) whales was assessed using acoustic data recorded on seven autonomous acoustic recording packages (ARPs) deployed from March 2001 to February 2003 in the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Automatic detection and acoustic power analysis methods were used for determining presence and absence of whale calls. Blue whale calls were detected year round, on average 177 days per year, with peak calling in March and April, and a secondary peak in October and November. Lowest calling rates occurred between June and September, and in December. Fin whale calling rates were seasonal with calls detected between February and June (on average 51 days/year), and peak calling in May. Sea ice formed a month later and retreated a month earlier in 2001 than in 2002 over all recording sites. During the entire deployment period, detected calls of both species of whales showed negative correlation with sea ice concentrations at all sites, suggesting an absence of blue and fin whales in areas covered with sea ice. A conservative density estimate of calling whales from the acoustic data yields 0.43 calling blue whales per 1000 n mi2 and 1.30 calling fin whales per 1000 n mi2, which is about one-third higher than the density of blue whales and approximately equal to the density of fin whales estimated from the visual surveys.

Sea-ice switches and abrupt climate change.

We propose that past abrupt climate changes were probably a result of rapid and extensive variations in sea-ice cover. We explain why this seems a perhaps more likely explanation than a purely thermohaline circulation mechanism. We emphasize that because of the significant influence of sea ice on the climate system, it seems that high priority should be given to developing ways for reconstructing high-resolution (in space and time) sea-ice extent for past climate-change events. If proxy data can confirm that sea ice was indeed the major player in past abrupt climate-change events, it seems less likely that such dramatic abrupt changes will occur due to global warming, when extensive sea-ice cover will not be present.

Effects of surface freshwater flux induced by sea ice transport on the global thermohaline circulation

Effects of surface freshwater flux induced by sea ice formation and melting on the thermohaline circulation are investigated by using a sea‐ice‐ocean coupled general circulation model forced by monthly climatology. Restoring to the observed sea surface salinity is not employed in order to evaluate precisely the sea ice effects. Because of the model's improper representation of interaction between sea ice and the Northern Hemisphere deep convection, the discussion is focused on the effect of sea ice in the Southern Hemisphere. In the control case, deep water formation around Antarctica occurs under compact sea ice cover, where positive annual mean sea ice production is an essential factor to induce deep convection. When sea ice motion is turned off, deep water formation is maintained primarily by thermal destabilization of water columns, as annual mean sea ice production is almost zero everywhere. Consequently, the deep ocean around Antarctica is warmer and less saline compared with that for the control case, and the Atlantic bottom circulation is weakened by 16%. Northward salt transport from the Southern Ocean in the bottom layer also decreases. The amount of the decrease is greater by 1 order of magnitude than that of the surface salt input associated with sea ice. In a case where the freshwater flux at the ice‐ocean interface is turned off, results are similar to the case without sea ice transport, although surface heat and momentum fluxes significantly differ between them. This suggests that the influence of sea ice on freshwater flux is more important than on heat and momentum fluxes in affecting the global thermohaline circulation.