The review discusses the state of thinking of each of the main national groups investigating sea ice and gives an overall appraisal of the field as a whole. Emphasis is placed on (1) the physical basis for interpreting sea ice strength (phase relations, air volume, and structural considerations), (2) theoretical considerations (strength models, air bubbles and salt reinforcement, and interrelations between growth conditions and strength), (3) experimental results (tensile, flexural, shear, and compressive strength, elastic modulus, shear modulus and Poisson's ratio, time dependent effects, and creep), and (4) plate characteristics. The paper includes a review of problems in sea ice investigations, relates the chemical, crystallographic, mechanical, and physical aspects involved, and concludes by showing how to utilize this knowledge to solve practical problems. (Author).

Over the past 20 years the study of the frozen Arctic and Southern Oceans and sub-arctic seas has progressed at a remarkable pace. This third edition of Sea Ice gives insight into the very latest understanding of the how sea ice is formed, how we measure (and model) its extent, the biology that lives within and associated with sea ice and the effect of climate change on its distribution. How sea ice influences the oceanography of underlying waters and the influences that sea ice has on humans living in Arctic regions are also discussed. Featuring twelve new chapters, this edition follows two previous editions (2001 and 2010), and the need for this latest update exhibits just how rapidly the science of sea ice is developing. The 27 chapters are written by a team of more than 50 of the worlds’ leading experts in their fields. These combine to make the book the most comprehensive introduction to the physics, chemistry, biology and geology of sea ice that there is. This third edition of Sea Ice will be a key resource for all policy makers, researchers and students who work with the frozen oceans and seas.

Sea ice is a major component of polar environments, especially in the Arctic where it covers the entire Arctic Ocean throughout most of the year. However, in the context of climate change, the Arctic sea ice cover has been declining significantly over the last decades, either in terms of its concentration or thickness. The sea ice cover evolution and climate change are strongly coupled through the albedo positive feedback, thus possibly explaining the Arctic amplification of climate warming. In addition to thermodynamics, sea ice kinematics (drift, deformation) appears as an essential factor in the evolution of the ice cover through a reduction of the average ice age (and consequently of the cover's thickness), or ice export out of the Arctic. This is a first motivation for a better understanding of the kinematical and mechanical processes of sea ice. A more upstream, theoretical motivation is a better understanding of the brittle deformation of geophysical objects across a wide range of scales. Indeed, owing to its very strong kinematics, compared e.g. to the Earth’s crust, an unrivaled kinematical data set is available for sea ice from in situ (e.g. drifting buoys) or satellite observations. Here, we review the recent advances in the understanding of sea ice drift, deformation and fracturing obtained from these data. We focus particularly on the scaling properties in time and scale that characterize these processes, and we emphasize the analogies that can be drawn from the deformation of the Earth’s crust. These scaling properties, which are the signature of long-range elastic interactions within the cover, constrain future developments in the modeling of sea ice mechanics. We also show that kinematical and rheological variables such as average velocity, average strain-rate or strength have significantly changed over the last decades, accompanying and actually accelerating the Arctic sea ice decline.

Based on the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Air-Sea-Ice Interaction held September 28-October 10, 1981 in Acquafredda di maratea, Italy. Intent is to present the topic of sea ice in the broad and interdisciplinary context of atmospheric and oceanographic science.

As much as one-tenth of the world’s oceans are covered with sea ice, or frozen ocean water, at some point during the annual cycle. Sea ice thus plays an important, often defining, role in the natural environment and the global climate system. This book is a global look at the changes in sea ice and the tools and techniques used to measure and record those changes. The first comprehensive research done on sea-ice field techniques, this volume will be indispensable for the study of northern sea ice and a must-have for scientists in the field of climate change research.