Wind and melt driven circulation in a marginal sea ice edge frontal system: a numerical model |
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| Authors: | HJ Niebauer |
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| Institution: | 2. Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99701, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | A seasonal ice edge zone is a unique frontal system with an air-ice-sea interface. This paper is a report on the numerical results from a quasi-three dimensional, time dependent, non-linear numerical model of circulation at a continental shelf-seasonal ice edge zone. The purpose of the experiments is to model the hydrography and circulation, including upwelling, baroclinic geostrophic flow, and inertial oscillations, at the ice edge with emphasis on examining the driving forces of wind and melting ice. It is suggested that the non-linear acceleration terms and vertical density diffusion terms are negligible and that the horizontal density diffusion terms are of secondary importance within the time and space scales of the experiments. The vertical eddy viscosity terms are important in a spin-up time scale and for Ekman transport and a bottom Ekman layer. The effects of the horizontal eddy viscosity terms are observable (a long-ice jet is diffused away from the ice edge) by the end (72 h) of the model runs.Model results are compared with available oceanographic and meteorological data for verification. The observed and modeled features of melt water induced water column stability, frontal structure, and ice edge upwelling are briefly discussed relative to observed ice edge primary production. Because the model is relatively general in nature, it is readily applicable to other seasonal or marginal ice edge zones in either hemisphere. |
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