Fast-Ice Properties and Structure in Mcmurdo Sound

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Fast-Ice Properties and Structure in Mcmurdo Sound Fast-ice properties 00 0, C6 001 MW 00 O 0 A 00 and structure in McMurdo Sound 00000 0 O 0 qM0 = 0 O 0 Dc•= 0 0000 D 0 ooa 50 O 0 41110 m 50 M.O. JEFFRIES and WE WEEKS cc. O 0 00aoo O 0 000 DO Geophysical Institute 0 0O 00 DD University of Alaska 100 o CDCOM 0 DO D 0 D 100 Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-0800 M 00 DO •= 0 oo 00 _ 0 —I I 0 0 41KE 0 O 0 0 C) The fast ice in McMurdo Sound frequently is used as a plat- 3 o acmgo 0 DO DO 000 0 O 0 _ 0 form for oceanographic and biological studies, and the annual 150 0 150 0= 00 O 0 a0 sea ice runway is essential to the movement of personnel, cze 00 0 O 0 DO equipment and supplies in and out of McMurdo Station. Con- O Da 0:2CM 8 sidering the importance of the fast ice to the operation of coo o 0 o McMurdo Station remarkably little is known about its annual 200 000 GOD 0 200 OO SO 0 growth history, properties, and structure. In early January 1991, 00• 0 we obtained 15 first-year cores from the fast ice in McMurdo 0 •0 0 Sound (figure 1). For comparative purposes, an additional core A B 250 .... 250 was obtained from Gerlache Bay, the site of the Italian antarctic 0 2 4 6 8 10-4 -3 -2 -1 0 station, Baie Terra Nova (see Jeffries and Weeks, Antarctic Jour- SALINITY (o/oo) TEMPERATURE (°C) nal, this issue, for location). Here we report some preliminary results of the ice core analysis program. Figure 2. Depth profiles of salinity and temperature in McMurdo The mean salinity of the individual fast ice cores ranged from Sound fast ice cores. The solid symbols (circles for salinity, 2.95 to 5.39 parts per thousand. The mean value of all the fast squares for temperature) represent the mean values of the open ice salinity measurements was 4.21 parts per thousand. This symbols at a given depth. (% denotes parts per thousand. cm value, only slightly less than that of the western Ross Sea pack denotes centimeter.) ice (Jeffries and Weeks, Antarctic Journal, this issue), is evidence of brine loss prior to sampling. Some idea of the magnitude of the brine loss in 1991 can be gained from the reported mean salinity of 6.0 parts per thousand for the McMurdo fast ice in issue). Like the pack ice, the fast ice is also more saline than October through November 1980 (Gow et al. 1982). arctic sea ice of similar age and thickness. Also similar to the The mean salinity profile in the fast ice has a roughly reverse western Ross Sea pack ice (Jeffries and Weeks, Antarctic Journal, S-shape (figure 2A), which almost certainly is the result of this issue), the fast ice, although close to the melting point and desalination. The relationship between mean ice salinity (S i, in nearly isothermal (figure 2B), nevertheless retains a consider- parts per thousand) and mean ice thickness (h, in meters) of able amount of brine. the fast ice, S = 0.007h + 2.846, is similar to that of the western The mean ice thickness at the 16 sites ranged from 1.25 to Ross Sea pack ice (Jeffries and Weeks, Antarctic Journal, this 2.32 meters. The mean value of all the ice thickness measure- ments was 1.94 meters. The data are consistent with recent fast ice thickness records for McMurdo Sound and adjacent waters (Leventer et al. 1987). The fast ice is almost twice as thick as the western Ross Sea pack ice (Jeffries and Weeks, Antarctic 164 - C 166 C 166, 0 a Point Journal, this issue). The greater thickness of the fast ice might ARS-33 A be caused by a combination of lower oceanic heat fluxes and .W. Point RS-24 Bornacchi MCMURDO different ice accretion mechanisms in the fast ice zones. Congelation ice (figure 3) was observed at all fast ice sites, R23 SOUND :Cape Royda comprising from 30.4 percent to 93.6 percent of the individual cores. This ice type often was characterized by strongly aligned RS-27 A crystals, a feature also observed at many McMurdo Sound lo- RS-22 Cops cations in October through November 1980 (Cow et al. 1982). A A A 70,%, RS-34 RS-32 The preferred orientation of congelation ice crystals in the Erebus Tongue CI A McMurdo Sound area is consistent with water current control The Strand A ERE Mo,oi,.. RS-21 RS-31 77 of crystal growth (Weeks and Cow 1978). Frazil ice, found only DAY A -- at the top of core RS-19 (figure 3) was a minor component of RS-25 - - - the fast ice. McMurdo 00050 /Station land, - RS-2OA Unlike the western Ross Sea pack ice (Jeffries and Weeks, VA0. McMurdo los SPoil Antarctic Journal, RS-29 RS730 RS-19 this issue), the lower portions of most fast ice hoop cores comprised layers of congealed, densely packed platelet 164 , Z------ ice (figure 3). The maximum percentage of platelet ice observed in a core was 50.7 percent. Only core RS-31, obtained from Figure 1. Location map of the sites of ice cores (triangles) obtained Erebus Bay, did not contain an appreciable amount of platelet from the McMurdo Sound fast ice in January 1991. ice (figure 3). 94 ANTARCTIC JOURNAL ice sheet has been noted since the 1960s (Paige 1966; Lewis and Perkin 1985; Cow personal communication). The occur- rence of platelet ice in the Gerlache Bay fast ice (Core RS-17, C figure 3) was somewhat unexpected, but it suggests a nearby source of low-density water for platelet ice growth. At Cerlache fflw Bay, the inclusion of platelets in the congelation ice clearly be- gan somewhat earlier than in McMurdo Sound. This was inter- c/p rupted before resuming and then dominating the ice-accretion 1111 process (figure 3). IIIIIIIIIIH This work was supported by National Science Foundation p...,.I c/p grant DPP 89-15863. Thanks go to the helicopter pilots and I....., •••4 crews of the U.S. Navy VXE-6 Squadron and the U.S. Coast ,.••..i•••••4 •••••••....••i Guards Polar Sea Aviation Detachment for flying us around i•••••I••••• P••••••4I•••••4 )•••••••••• McMurdo Sound and cheerfully assisting us with our work. W••.•••i I••••••4••••••4 •A•A•A ••.&•.• ))1)1) P!.!.! The Cerlache Bay core was obtained with the assistance of the Polar Sea. Figure 3. Diagrammatic representations of the stratigraphy of References some fast ice cores from McMurdo Sound (RS-19, RS-33, RS-31) and Gerlache Bay (RS-17). F denotes frazil ice; C denotes conge- Cow, A.J. 1991. Personal communication. lation ice; P denotes platelet ice; C/p denotes congelation ice with Cow, A.J., S.F Ackley, WE Weeks, and J.W. Covoni. 1982. Physical some platelets. and structural characteristics of Antarctic sea ice. Annals of Glaciology, 3, 113-117 Jeffries, MO., and WE Weeks. 1991. Summer pack-ice properties and structure in the western Ross Sea. Antarctic Journal of the U.S., 26(5). It is believed that platelet ice growth in McMurdo Sound Leventer, A., R.B. Dunbar, M.R. Allen, and R.V. Wayper. 1987 Ice results from supercooling brought about by adiabatic de- thickness in McMurdo Sound. Antarctic Journal of the U.S., 22(5), 94- compression of low density seawater flowing northward into 96. the sound from below the McMurdo Ice Shelf (Lewis and Perkin Lewis, E.L., and R. Perkin. 1985. The winter oceanography of Mc- 1985). The accretion of the platelet ice against the base of the Murdo Sound, Antarctica. In S.S. Jacobs (Ed.), Oceanology of the Ant- overlying congelation ice sheet and its subsequent consolida- arctic Continental Shelf. (Antarctic Research Series, Vol. 43.) Washing- ton, D.C.: American Geophysical Union. tion allows increased growth of the fast ice, resulting in a final Paige, R.A. 1966. Crystallographic studies of sea ice in McMurdo Sound, thickness greater than would otherwise be possible by heat Antarctica. (Technical Report R494.) Port Hueneme, Calif.: Naval Civil conduction from platelet-free water alone. Engineering Laboratory. The basic two-layer structure of the McMurdo fast ice, i.e., Weeks, WE, and A.J. Cow. 1978. Preferred crystal orientations in the congelation ice overlying platelet ice, undoubtedly is a recurrent fast ice along the margins of the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical feature. The significant contribution of platelet ice to the fast Research, 83(C10), 5105-5121. Summer pack-ice 1991. Ice thicknesses, salinities, temperatures, and structural- stratigraphic data from 17 cores are discussed. properties and structure The mean thickness of the sampled floes ranged from 0.59 in the western Ross Sea to 1.53 meters. The mean value of all the ice thickness mea- surements is 1.09 meters. The ice thickness statistics are similar to the more extensive ice thickness observations obtained from M.O. JEFFRIES and WE WEEKS the Weddell Sea (Cow et al. 1987; Wadhams et al. 1987; Lange and Eicken 1991). The Ross Sea ice thickness data complement Geophysical Institute previous observations that antarctic sea ice is thinner than arc- University of Alaska tic sea ice of similar age. Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-0800 The mean salinity of the individual cores ranged from 3.44 to 6.01 parts per thousand. The mean value of all the pack ice Most of the available information on the properties and struc- salinity measurements was 4.5 parts per thousand.
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