| Volumes and Issues Contents of Issue 1 |
www.ocean-sci-discuss.net/4/107/2007/
doi:10.5194/osd-4-107-2007
© Author(s) 2007. This work is licensed
under a Creative Commons License.
Scaling aspects of the sea-ice-drift dynamics and pack fracture
1Fracture Physics Department, Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia
2Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Bering street, 38, 199397 St. Petersburg, Russia
Abstract. A study of the sea-ice dynamics in the periods of time prior to and during the cycles of basin-wide fragmentation of the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean is presented. The fractal geometry of the ice-sheets limited by leads and ridges was assessed using the satellite images, while the data on the correlated sea-ice motion were obtained in the research stations "North Pole 32" and "North Pole 33" established on the ice pack. The revealed decrease of the fractal dimension as a result of large-scale fragmentation is consistent with the localization of the fracture process (leads propagation). At the same time, the scaling properties of the distribution of amplitudes of ice-fields accelerations were insensitive to the event of sea-ice fragmentation. The temporal distribution of the accelerations was scale-invariant during "quiet" periods of sea-ice drift but disordered in the period of mechanical perturbation. The period of decorrelated (in time) ice-field motion during the important fracture event was interpreted as an inter-level transition in the hierarchic dynamical system. The mechanism of the long-range correlations in the sea-ice cover, including the fracture process, is suggested to be in relation with the self-organized oscillation dynamics inherent in the ice pack.
Discussion Paper (PDF, 4068 KB) Interactive Discussion (Closed, 2 Comments) Final Revised Paper (OS)
Citation: Chmel, A., Smirnov, V. N., and Panov, L. V.: Scaling aspects of the sea-ice-drift dynamics and pack fracture, Ocean Sci. Discuss., 4, 107-128, doi:10.5194/osd-4-107-2007, 2007. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
