Small-scale sea ice deformation in the Beaufort Sea seasonal ice zone

Abstract

During spring 2003, the deformation of a single lead in the Beaufort Sea was investigated using four Global Positioning System recording stations. The lead was situated in first-year ice, in the transition zone between multiyear, and seasonal ice packs. We discuss the opening rate and shear of this lead in the context of weather system forcing of the Beaufort Sea sea ice. It is found that in an opening mode, the lead displays semidiurnal fluctuations in divergence. It was also observed that the lead predominately ridged first-year ice in closing. The volume of ice ridged was the same order of magnitude as ice growth within the study region during the time period studied. Further work is required to fully understand the implications of the subdiurnal forcing of the ice pack on deformation in the shear zone at the edge of the perennial ice pack in the Beaufort Sea. This study provides information about the temporal and spatial scales that must be resolved in these future investigations. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.