SEA ICE an Introduction to Its Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geology
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SEA ICE An Introduction to its Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geology Edited by David N. Thomas* and Gerhard S. Dieckmann{ * School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, UK { Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany SEA ICE An Introduction to its Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geology Edited by David N. Thomas* and Gerhard S. Dieckmann{ * School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, UK { Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany # 2003 by Blackwell Science Ltd, First published 2003 by Blackwell Science Ltd a Blackwell Publishing Company Editorial Offices: Library of Congress 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tel: +44 40)1865 776868 Sea ice: an introduction to its physics, chemistry, Blackwell Publishing, Inc., 350 Main Street, biology, and geology/edited by David N. Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA Thomas and Gerhard S. Dieckmann. Tel: +1 781 388 8250 p. cm. Iowa State Press, a Blackwell Publishing Includes bibliographical references 4p. ). Company, 2121 State Avenue, Ames, Iowa 50014- ISBN 0-632-05808-0 8300, USA 1. Sea ice. I. Thomas, David N. 4David Tel: +1 515 292 0140 Neville), 1962± II. Dieckmann, Gerhard. Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd, 550 Swanston GB2403.2.S43 2003 Street, Carlton South, Victoria 3053, Australia 551.34'3Ðdc21 Tel: +61 40)3 9347 0300 2002038346 Blackwell Verlag, KurfuÈ rstendamm 57, 10707 Berlin, Germany ISBN 0-632-05808-0 Tel: +49 40)30 32 79 060 A catalogue record for this title is available from The right of the Author to be identified as the the British Library Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Set in 10/13pt Times Patents Act 1988. by DP Photosetting, Aylesbury, Bucks Printed and bound in Great Britain by All rights reserved. No part of this publication may MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, For further information on electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: otherwise, except as permitted by the UK www.blackwellpublishing.com Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Dedication This book is dedicated to all the ships' crews, air support teams, field station/base crews and the myriad of other people associated with the logistic support that makes sea ice research possible. Beyond their help, however, our families and friends have had to come to terms with us being at the ends of the earth, often for long periods of time. In most cases they never get to experience, first hand, the wonders we have seen. It is only right that this book is dedicated to them. And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold: And ice, mast-high, came floating by, As green as emerald. And through the drifts the snowy clifts Did send a dismal sheen: Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken, The ice was all between. The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a swound! Extracted from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge 41772± 1834). Contributors David G. Ainley, H.T. Harvey & Associates, San Jose. USA Leanne K. Armand, ACRC, University of Tasmania, Hobart. Australia Kevin R. Arrigo, Department of Geophysics, Stanford University. USA Josefino C. Comiso, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt. USA Gerhard S. Dieckmann, Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven. Germany Hajo Eicken, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. USA G.E. Tony) Fogg, Emeritus, School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor. UK Christian Haas, Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven. Germany Hartmut H. Hellmer, Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven. Germany Amy Leventer, Department of Geology, Colgate University, Hamilton. USA Michael P. Lizotte, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, West Boothbay Harbor. USA Stathis Papadimitriou, School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor. UK Sigrid B. Schnack-Schiel, Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven. Germany Ian Stirling, Canadian Wildlife Service, Edmonton. Canada David N. Thomas, School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor. UK Cynthia T. Tynan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole. USA Contents Foreword by G.E. 0Tony) Fogg vii Acknowledgements xiv Chapter 1 The Importance of Sea Ice: An Overview 1 Gerhard S. Dieckmann and Hartmut H. Hellmer Chapter 2 From the Microscopic, to the Macroscopic, to the Regional Scale: Growth, Microstructure and Properties of Sea Ice 22 Hajo Eicken Chapter 3 Dynamics versus Thermodynamics: The Sea Ice Thickness Distribution 82 Christian Haas Chapter 4 Large-scale Characteristics and Variability of the Global Sea Ice Cover 112 Josefino C. Comiso Chapter 5 Primary Production in Sea Ice 143 Kevin R. Arrigo Chapter 6 The Microbiology of Sea Ice 184 Michael P. Lizotte Chapter 7 The Macrobiology of Sea Ice 211 Sigrid B. Schnack-Schiel Chapter 8 Sea Ice: A Critical Habitat for Polar Marine Mammals and Birds 240 David G. Ainley, Cynthia T. Tynan and Ian Stirling Chapter 9 Biogeochemistry of Sea Ice 267 David N. Thomas and Stathis Papadimitriou v vi Contents Chapter 10Particulate Flux From Sea Ice in Polar Waters 303 Amy Leventer Chapter 11 Palaeo Sea Ice Distribution ± Reconstruction and Palaeoclimatic Significance 333 Leanne K. Armand and Amy Leventer Glossary 373 Index 385 The colour plates may be found throughout the book as follows: Plates 1.1 after page 2 Plates 2.1-4 after page 66 Plates 3.1-2 after page 98 Plates 4.1-9 after page 130 Plates 6.1 after page 194 Plates 7.1-3 after page 226 Plates 8.1-3 after page 258 Plates 11.1-3 after page 354 Foreword G.E. 0Tony) Fogg Almost everything discussed in this book stems from the unique nature of water. Whereas comparable compounds are gases at what we regard as normal tempera- tures, water is a liquid, with a greater heat capacity than almost all other substances and which, on solidifying, unlike most other fluids, becomes a solid lighter than itself. Laboratory scientists have explained these peculiarities, but the all-pervading complexities to which they give rise in the natural environment are still insufficiently investigated and understood. These complexities are especially evident in sea ice and their study is becoming increasingly important. Sea ice covers some 7% of our planet and knowledge of its distribution and behaviour is needed for the purely practical purposes of navigation but, beyond that, as we now begin to realize, sea ice acts as an extremely powerful heat engine, controlling global temperatures at levels which make life sustainable. Sea ice also provides a habitat for living organisms which, in spite of apparently extreme conditions, play an important part in the ecosystems of the polar seas. In studying these things tremendous difficulties have to be faced in making observa- tions under natural conditions and progress has been slow. However, problems are being overcome and knowledge advances. In the past, seafarers, although not altogether unmindful of the beauties of form and colour in sea ice, generally looked on it as exasperatingly unpredictable ± Captain William Parry wrote in 1819 of its `whimsicalities' ± formidable in its destructive power, but unproductive and unin- teresting in itself. Only a few thought it worth studying. James Cook, on his voyage in Antarctic waters in 1772±75, discussed the origin of sea ice with his naturalist J.R. Forster but, obviously, could not make detailed observations 4Hoare, 1982). The most comprehensive account from around this time was that of the whaler William Scoresby in his paper on Greenland ice 41815). This dealt with kinds of ice, the differences between those of fresh and salt waters, their formation, distribution, movement and seasonal changes. The effects of ice movements on bird behaviour were noted, as were the relationships between ice, sea and atmosphere, and parti- cularly the capacity of the ice as `a powerful equaliser of temperature'. Scoresby entertained his crew by fashioning lenses from clear sea ice and using them to light pipes and ignite gun-powder. Robert Hooke in the early days of the Royal Society had already demonstrated the transparency of freshwater ice to radiant heat ± an vii viii Foreword important point ± and Chinese conjurers had similarly used ice burning glasses some fourteen centuries before that 4Needham, 1962). However, of all people in Scoresby's time, the Inuit had the deepest under- standing of sea ice. Since they migrated into the Canadian Arctic and Greenland some four thousand years before, they had travelled much on the ice and the `little ice age' 4ca. 1600±1850 AD) forced them to resort to hunting seals in the winter at breathing holes and leads, devising sophisticated techniques for pursuing their quarry at different seasons and under varying conditions of ice surface 4Aporta, 2002). Obviously, such experience would have been invaluable in the polar explorations carried out in the 19th century but, for example, the British Royal Navy would have none of it and even Scoresby, being a whaler rather than a naval man, was not allowed to play a part. During these times some advances were being made on the small-scale, mainly biological, level. Some of the early explorers in Antarctic waters, Bellingshausen in 1820 for example 4Debenham, 1945), had commented on the discoloration of sea ice and surmised that dust from the land or droppings of seabirds were responsible. James Clark Ross, on his voyage south in 1839±43, was initially inclined to such a view but his assistant surgeon, Joseph Hooker, collected some of the material and found it to consist of the remains of microscopic organisms which the eminent German protozoologist C.G.