Scaling aspects of the sea-ice-drift dynamics and pack fracture

A. Chmel (1) , V. N. Smirnov (2) , L. V. Panov (2)

1 Fracture Physics Department [St Petersburg]
2 AARI - Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute

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.

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère

A. Chmel, V. N. Smirnov, L. V. Panov. Scaling aspects of the sea-ice-drift dynamics and pack fracture. Ocean Science Discussions, 2007, 4 (1), pp.107-128. ⟨hal-00298461⟩