Sea ice characteristics between the middle Weddell Sea and the Prydz Bay,Antarctica during the austral summer of 2003

The antarctic sea ice was investigated upon five occasions between January 4 and February 15, 2003. The investigations included: (1) estimation of sea ice distribution by ship-based observations between the middle Weddell Sea and the Prydz Bay; (2) estimation of sea ice distribution by aerial photography in the Prydz Bay; (3) direct measurements of fast ice thickness and snow cover, as well as ice core sampling in Nella Fjord; (4) estimation of melting sea ice distribution near the Zhongshan Station; and (5) observation of sea ice early freeze near the Zhongshan Station. On average, sea ice covered 14.4% of the study area. The highest sea ice concentration (80%) was observed in the Weddell Sea. First-year ice was dominant (99.7%~99.8%). Sea ice distributions in the Prydz Bay were more variable due to complex inshore topography, proximity of the Larsemann Hills, and/or grounded icebergs. The average thickness of landfast ice in Nella Fjord was 169.5 cm. Wind-blown snow redistribution plays an important role in affecting the ice thickness in Nella Fjord. Preliminary freezing of sea ice near the Zhongshan Station follows the first two phases of the pancake cycle.

Distribution of chlorophyll a and diatom in the sea ice of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Diatoms are major primary producers of microbial biomass in the Antarctica. They are found in the water and sea ice. The distribution, abundance of the ice diatoms and their relation to the environmental factors inside and outside the ice have been studied for its special role in the Antarctic Ocean ecology. In this paper we describe the abundance, distribution and composition of diatom assemblages in

Interannual Variability and Scenarios Projection of Sea Ice in Bohai Sea Part Ⅰ: Variation Characteristics and Interannual Hindcast

The Bohai Sea is one of the southernmost areas for sea ice formation in the northern hemisphere.Sea ice disasters in this body of water severely affect marine activities and the safety of coastal residents.In this study,we analyze the variation characteristics of the sea ice in the Bohai Sea and establish an annual regression model based on predictable mode analysis method.The results show the following:1)From 1970 to 2018,the average ice grade is(2.6±0.8),with a maximum of 4.5 and a minimum of 1.0.Liaodong Bay(LDB)has the heaviest ice conditions in the Bohai Sea,followed by Bohai Bay(BHB)and Laizhou Bay(LZB).Interannual variation is obvious in all three bays,but the linear decreasing trend is significant only in BHB.2)Three modes are obtained from empirical orthogonal function analysis,namely,single polarity mode with the same sign of anomaly in all of the three bays and strong interannual variability(82.0%),the north–south dipole mode with BHB and LZB showing an opposite sign of anomalies to that in LDB and strong decadal variations(14.5%),and a linear trend mode(3.5%).Critical factors are analyzed and regression equations are established for all the principal components,and then an annual hindcast model is established by synthesizing the results of the three modes.This model provides an annual spatial prediction of the sea ice in the Bohai Sea for the first time,and meets the demand of operational sea ice forecasting.

Sea Salt Sodium Record in a Shallow Ice Core from East Antarctica as a Potential Proxy of the Antarctic Sea Ice Extent in Southern Indian Ocean

Antarctic sea ice has experienced an increasing trend in recent decades,especially in the Ross Sea and Indian Ocean sectors.Sea ice variability affects greatly the maritime airmass transport from high latitude to Antarctic continent.Here we present a new ice core record of sea salt sodium(ssNa+)concentration at annual-resolution in the Princess Elizabeth Land spanning from 1990 to 2016,showing that this marker could be used as a potential proxy for reconstructing the sea ice extent(SIE)in the Southern Indian Ocean(SIO)given their significant correlation(R=-0.6,P<0.01)over the past 27 years.The correlation and composite analyses results show that the ssNa^+at the 202 km inland from Zhongshan Station and the SIE changes in SIO are closely related to the Indian Ocean Dipole(IOD)and Southern Annular Mode(SAM).The northward wind in central SIO occurs during positive IOD and the strengthened westerlies occurs during positive SAM,both of which favor increased sea ice in SIO and lead to the decreased ssNa^+concentration at the coastal site.

Ecology of newly formed sea ice in the Weddell Sea,AntarcticaⅠ.chlorophyll a and nutrients

Textural composition, chlorophyll a and nutrients (phosphate, nitrate and silicate) of newly formed sea ice from the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, were analyzed during austral autumn in 1992. Frazil ice, congelation ice and mixed frazil/congelation ice were the main textural types. Mean concentrations of chlorophyll a and nutrients in sea ice were varied considerably with ice texture. High chlorophyll a occurred mostly in ice floes consisting predominantly or mainly of frazil ice. Nutrients showed an inverse relationship being significantly lower in frazil ice than in congelation ice. Similar observations were made for one year old sea ice.

Tidal characteristics near the Chinese Zhongshan Station in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica

A permanent tidal station was installed at the Chinese Zhongshan Station in Feb. 2010. Harmonic constants of 170 tidal constituents were obtained from harmonic analysis of the first year＇ s data. The results of the eight main constituents showed good agreement with those of two tidal models. Tidal characteristics, such as tide type, diurnal inequality, tidal range, and water levels were also analyzed.

Seasonal change of ice algal and phytoplankton assemblages in the Nella Fjord near Zhongshan Station, East Antarctica

The ice algal and phytoplankton assemblages were studied from Nella Fjord near Zhongshan Station, East Antarctica from April 12 to December 30, 1992. Algal blooms occurred about 3 cm thick on the bottom of sea ice in late April and mid November to early December respectively, and a phytoplankton bloom appeared in the underlying surface water in mid December following the spring ice algal bloom. The biomass in ice bottom was 1 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of surface water. Amphiprora kjellmanii, Berkeleya sp., Navicula glaciei, Nitzschia barkelyi, N. cylindrus /N. curta, N. lecointei and Nitzschia sp. were common in the sea ice temporarily or throughout the study period. The biomass in a certain ice segment was decreased gradually and the dominant species were usually succeeded as the season went on. Nitzschia sublineata and Dactyliosolen antarctica were two seasonal dominant species only observed in underlying water column. The assemblages between bottom of ice and underlying surface water were different except when spring ice algae bloomed. The evidence shows that the ice algal blooms occurred mainly by in situ growth of ice algae, and the phytoplankton bloom was mostly caused by the release of ice algae.

Summer fast ice evolution off Zhongshan Station,Antarctica

Based on the field data acquired in the program of fast ice observation off Zhongshan Station, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica during the austral summer 2005/ 2006, physical properties evolution of fast ice during the ice ablation season is analyzed in detail. Results show that the annual maximum ice thickness in 2005 occurred in later November, and then ice started to reek, and the ablation duration was 62 days; sea water under the ice became warmer synchronously; corresponding to the warming sea ice temperature, a ＂relative cold mid-layer＂ appeared in sea ice; the fast ice marginal line recoiled back to the shore observably, and the recoil distance was 20.9 km from 18 December 2005 through 14 January 2006. In addition, based on the data of sea ice thickness survey along the investigation course of MV Xuelong on December 18 of 2005, the ice thickness distribution paten in the marginal ice zone have been described ： sea ice thickness increased, but the diversity of floe ice thick-ness decreased from open water to fast ice zone distinctly.

Accumulation and geochemical evidence for the Little Ice Age episode in eastern Antarctica

Data on accumulation and concentration of chemical compounds recorded in an essentially unexplored area(Dome Argus)of the Indian Ocean sector of eastern Antarctica during the past 2,680 years(680 B.C. to 1999 A.D.) are presented. During the first 1, 700 years(680 B. C. to 1000 A. D.), the accumulation data shows a slightly decreasing trend, while chemical ions appear to be stable, representing a stable climatic condition. An intensive increasing trend of the accumulation occurred during the 12^(th) to 14^(th) century. The period from 15^(th) to 19^(th) century was characterized by a rapid reducing accumulation and concentrations of volatile compounds suffering post-depositional loss linked to sparse precipitation amount,which was temporally consistent with the Little Ice Age(LIA) episode. Comparison between observed accumulation rates with other eastern Antarctic ice cores show a consistent decreasing trend during LIA, while sea salt and dust-originated ions increased due to sea ice extent and intensified atmospheric transportation. Distribution of volcanic originated sulfate over the Antarctic continent show a significant change during the 15^(th) century, coincident with the onset of the LIA. These results are important for the assessment of Antarctic continent mass balance and associated interpretation of the Dome A deep ice core records.

Thermodynamic processes of lake ice and landfast ice around Zhongshan Station, Antarctica

Thermodynamic processes of ice in three lakes and landfast ice around Zhongshan Station, Antarctica, were observed in 2006. The mass balance of lake ice was compared with that of landfast ice. The responses of lake ice and sea ice temperatures to the local surface air temperature are explored. Vertical conductive heat fluxes at varying depths of lake ice and sea ice were derived from vertical temperature profiles. The freeze up of lake ice and landfast ice occurred from late February to early March. Maximum lake ice thicknesses occurred from late September to early October, with values of 156-177 cm. The maximum sea ice thicknesses of 167-174 cm occurred relatively later, from late October to late November. Temporal variations of lake ice and landfast ice internal temperatures lagged those of air temperatures. High-frequency variations of air temperature were evidently attenuated by ice cover. The temporal lag and the high-frequency attenuation were greater for sea ice than for lake ice, and more distinct for the deeper ice layer than for the upper ice layer. This induced a smaller conductive heat flux through sea ice than lake ice, at the same depth and under the same atmospheric forcing, and a smoother fluctuation in the conductive heat flux for the deeper ice layer than for the upper ice layer. Enhanced desalination during the melt season increased the melting point temperature within sea ice, making it different from fresh lake ice.

Preliminary results on relationship between thermal diffusivity and porosity of sea ice in the Antarctic

The in situ sea-ice temperature, salinity and density observed from Chinese Antarctic Zhongshan Station have been applied to calculate the vertical profile of sea ice porosity. Based on numerical method, a number of schemes on sea - ice thermal diffusivity versus porosity have been accessed and one optimized scheme is identified by an optimal control model with an advanced, distributing parameter system. For simplicity, the internal heating source item was neglected in the heat conduction equation during the identification procedure. In order to illustrate the applicability of this identified scheme, the vertical ice temperature profiles have been simulated and compared with measurements, respectively by using identified scheme and by classical thermodynamic formulae. The comparisons indicated that the scheme describing sea - ice thermal diffusivity and porosity is reasonable. In spite of a minor improvement of accuracy of results against in situ data, the identified scheme has a more physical meaning and could be used potentially in various applications.

The Role of the Southern Hemisphere Polar Cell on Antarctic Sea Ice Variability

The study explores modes of variability in the Southern Polar Cell and their relationship with known global climate modes and Antarctic sea ice. It is found that Polar Cell is barotropic in nature and 500 hPa geo-potential height (Z500) field can satisfactorily represent variability in the Polar Cell. First, three leading Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) modes of Z500 account for nearly 80% of observed variability in the Polar Cell. Dominant mode (PC1500) comprises of high pressure divergence zone over Antarctica. Second leading mode (PC2500) is low pressure zone covering Amundsen-Bellingshausen Sea (ABS) similar to ABS low feature. A new climate mode called Polar Coastal Index (PCI) is defined, which describes more than 15% and close to 30% variability of circumpolar trough and ABS low, respectively. Out of four modes defined in this study, only PCI and PC2500 show linear trends and clear seasonality. Interestingly, both modes are affected by modulation of ABS low due to tropical ENSO forcing. SAM signature is present in Polar Cell as PC1500 shares large variance with it. The largest impact on sea ice comes from PC2500 followed by PC1500 in the Antarctic Dipole regions. However, this study suggests contemporary sea ice trends cannot be sustained, and can reverse given that trends in PCI and PC2500 favour a reversal. These results indicate that ENSO-driven Polar Cell variability plays a crucial role influencing Antarctic sea ice as it interacts with other climate modes and leads the combined impact at the interannual time scale.

Glacial meltwater and sea ice meltwater in the Prydz Bay, Antarctica

Measurements of d D and salinity were carried out in the Prydz Bay during two Antarctic cruises, the 13th and the 14th Chinese National Antarctic Research expeditions (CHINARE). Mass balance calculations based on d D and salinity showed that during the 13th CHINARE cruise, per- centages of glacial meltwater and sea ice meltwater in the study region ranged from 0% to 3.82% and from 3.19% to 4.78%, respectively. Meanwhile, the percentages were 1.53%—3.98% and 3.80%—4.52% during the 14th CHINARE cruise. We depicted plots showing the horizontal dis- tributions of glacial meltwater and sea ice meltwater, and found a footprint of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW), which may suggest a strong upwelling in this regime. We also noticed a butterfly- like image in the plot, which resulted from two adjacent water masses. It is interesting to note that the butterfly-like image deflected anticlockwise with depth. We suggested that the cause of the deflection could be due to Ekman effect. Depth profiles of glacial meltwater within the Prydz Bay were fundamentally uniform, revealing that inflow of glacial meltwater to the basin was a slower process with respect to the vertical mixing in the water column. Nevertheless, percentage of sea ice meltwater decreased steadily with depth, presumably due to the effect of seasonal cycle of sea ice production.

Status and trends in the stability of the three largest ice shelves in Antarctica

The Ross,Filchner-Ronne,and Amery ice shelves are the three largest ice shelves in Antarctica,playing a crucial role in supporting the Antarctic ice sheet.However,current studies on the stability of the three largest ice shelves primarily focus on singular or limited factors,lacking a comprehensive assessment of multiple parameters.To systematically and in-depth study the stability and trend of the three largest ice shelves,we comprehensively collected and analyzed key parameters,including elevation changes,basal melting,surface meltwater,major rifts propagation rate,suture zones,ice front area change rate,grounding lines,ice velocity,and mass balance.Additionally,we selected the collapsed Larsen B Ice Shelf(LBIS),the rapidly changing and structurally weakened Pine Island Ice Shelf(PIIS),and the accelerating Totten Ice Shelf(TIS)as reference ice shelves.By comparing and analyzing the key parameters between these reference ice shelves and the three largest ice shelves,we find the status and trends in the stability of the latter.Our findings reveal that most key parameters of the three largest ice shelves present relatively minor variations compared to those of the reference ice shelves.Specifically,50%of the parameters are smaller than those of the accelerating TIS,88%are smaller than those of the rapidly changing PIIS,and all parameters are smaller than those of the collapsed LBIS.Furthermore,after analyzing parameters that are not smaller than those of the TIS,it is observed that they remain in a stable state.Hence,the three largest ice shelves are currently undergoing natural changes that do not threaten their stability in the short term.Nevertheless,the evolution of the ice shelves under global climate change remains uncertain,making long-term observation and monitoring essential to assess their impact on sea level rise.

Sea ice extent retrieval with HY-2A scatterometer data and its assessment

A sea ice extent retrieval algorithm over the polar area based on scatterometer data of HY-2A satellite has been established. Four parameters are used for distinguishing between sea ice and ocean with Fisher＇s linear discriminant analysis method. The method is used to generate polar sea ice extent maps of the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the full 2013-2014 from the scatterometer aboard HY-2A （HY-2A-SCAT） backscatter data. The time series of the ice mapped imagery shows ice edge evolution and indicates a similar seasonal change trend with total ice area from DMSP-F17 Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder （SSMIS） sea ice concentration data. For both hemispheres, the HY-2A-SCAT extent correlates very well with SSMIS 15% extent for the whole year period. Compared with Synthetic Aperture Radar （SAR） imagery, the HY-2A-SCAT ice extent shows good correlation with the Sentinel-1 SAR ice edge. Over some ice edge area, the difference is very evident because sea ice edges can be very dynamic and move several kilometers in a single day.

A 2680-year record of sea ice extent in the Ross Sea and the associated atmospheric circulation derived from the DT401 East Antarctic ice core

Long time series of Antarctic sea ice extent （SIE） are important for climate research and model forecasting. A historic ice extent in the Ross Sea in early austral winter was rebuilt through sea salt ions in the DT401 ice core in interior East Antarctica. El Nino-Southern Oscillation （ENSO） had a significant influence on the sea salt deposition in DT401 through its influence on the Ross Sea SIE and the transport of sea salt inland. Spectral analysis also supported the influence of ENSO with a significant 2-6 a periodicity band. In addition, statistically significant decadal （10 a） and pentadecadal （50-70 a） periodicities suggested the existence of a teleconnection from the Pacific decadal oscillation （PDO）, which originated from sea surface temperature anomalies in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The first eigenvector of the empirical orthogonal function analysis （EOF1） showed lower values during the Medieval Warm Period （MWP）, while higher values were found in the Little Ice Age （LIA）. A higher frequency of ENSO events were found in the cold climatic stage, The post 1800 AD period was occupied by significant fluctuations of the EOF1, and PDO may be one of the influencing factors. The EOF1 values showed moderate fluctuations from 680 BC to 1000 AD, showing that the climate was relatively stable in this period.

Phytoplankton and chlorophyll a relationships with ENSO in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica

The historical data of phytoplankton and chlorophyll a(Chl a)(1990–2002)obtained during the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition(CHINARE)in the Prydz Bay have been integrated.The results showed that the temperature,salinity,nutrients,and oxygen of seawater changed when El Nino/La Nina occurred.The variation of biological communities reflected the response of ecosystem to environmental changes.During El Ni?o period,Chl a concentration and phytoplankton community structure changed significantly,and the relative proportion of diatoms increased while dinoflagellates decreased.During La Ni?a period,the proportion of diatoms decreased,but the golden-brown algae and blue-green algae increased significantly.The variation of phytoplankton population directly affected the biodiversity of the bay,which were also quite sensitive to the marine environment changes.Meanwhile,the satellite remote sensing data of 2002–2011(December–March)have been used to study the temporal connection change of Chl a and phytoplankton in the Prydz Bay.We found that there were significant differences in the monthly variation characteristics of satellite remote sensing Chl a and sea surface temperature(SST),which had some links with sea ice melting and El Ni?o/La Ni?a events.We found that the start time of bloom advanced,lagged or synchronized with the changes of the SST,and we also found the occurrence time of phytoplankton bloom corresponded with the sea ice melting inner bay.To some extent,this study will help us understand the relationships between ENSO events and the phytoplankton bloom in the Southern Ocean.

南极地区温度和海冰的变化特征及相互关系

对南极地区温度和海冰的时空变化特征及相互关系进行的初步研究结果表明：近３０余年来南极地区有显著的变暖趋势，时空差异比较明显。其中以南极半岛地区的变暖趋势最大，为整个东南极沿岸增温率的２～３倍。近２０年来，整个平均的南极海冰和温度的变化趋势相反，年际变化的相关关系不显著。经过聚类分析划分出不同的气候区，能清楚地显示出某些区两者的关系。海冰与同区沿岸温度距平相关信号最强区在南大西洋至西南太平洋海域。

南极海冰与温度变化关系的统计分析(英)

Temporal-spatial characteristics of Antarctic surface air temperature and sea ice variations have been statistically analyzed. Results show that, during the last 30 years there was an obvious warming trend in Antarctica, but there exists substantial difference in different sectors and different period. The most significant warming trend occurred in the Antarctic Peninsula, about 2-3 times greater than that in the whole east Antarctica. In recent 20 years the correlation between Antarctic mean temperature and mean sea ice area is low and insignificant, but its linear trends are found to be opposite related in each sector, that is, sea ice extent reductions when temperatures are high. The different climate sectors defined by cluster analysis clearly show a close relationship between two parameters on the inter-seasonal time scale. The most sensitive correlation sectors found are from south Atlantic to southwest Pacific ocean.