Growth of and brine drainage from NaClH2O freezing: A simulation of young sea ice

Abstract

A numerical simulation is used to predict the early time evolution of the solidification and brine drainage of a binary NaCl-H2O mixture. The mathematical formulation is based on continuum mixture theory as outlined by Bennon and Incropera [1987] and Medjani [1993]. Results yield a simple relationship between surface temperature and cumulative salt mass draining from the ice. Additionally, a scaling analysis of the energy equation leads to a simple parameterization for ice thickness. Results compare well with existing laboratory measurements; however, the delay in onset of brine drainage reported in the literature is not supported by these results. Images generated using continuum salinity and liquid fraction data, overlaid with streamlines generated from velocity data, provide a reasonable qualitative resemblance to laboratory observations of NaCl-H2O ice growth. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.