Numerical models of ice-ocean interactions typically rely upon a parameterization for the transport of heat and salt to the ice face that has not been satisfactorily validated by observational or experimental data. We compare laboratory experiments of ice-saltwater interactions to a common numerical parameterization and find a significant disagreement in the dependence of the melt rate on the fluid velocity. We suggest a resolution to this disagreement based on a theoretical analysis of the boundary layer next to a vertical heated plate, which results in a threshold fluid velocity of approximately 4 cm/s at driving temperatures between 0.5 and 4° C, above which the form of the parameterization should be valid.
CITATION STYLE
McConnochie, C. D., & Kerr, R. C. (2017). Testing a common ice-ocean parameterization with laboratory experiments. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 122(7), 5905–5915. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC012918
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