Sea ice and Arctic Ocean oceanography

The present day Arctic Ocean is characterised by a sea ice cover that is increasingly seasonal in nature. The annual cycle of growth and decay both influences the ocean beneath and is modified by the properties of the surface ocean. The processes that determine the stratification of the ocean are of prime importance for controlling the ocean heat flux to the ice underside. Areas of thin ice and open water in summer lead to enhanced surface heating and can accelerate the summer decay of ice through feedback processes and also lead to the formation of entirely new water masses. Open water in the form of polynyas is an important process regulating the ice-ocean-atmosphere fluxes. Seasonally and regionally the relationship between ice and ocean in the Arctic is highly dynamic.