Spatial and temporal evolution of landfast ice near Zhongshan Station, East Antarctica, over an annual cycle in 2011/2012

• Published in: Acta oceanologica Sinica Vol. 38; no. 5; pp. 51 - 61
• Main Authors: Zhao, Jiechen, Yang, Qinghua, Cheng, Bin, Leppäranta, Matti, Hui, Fengming, Xie, Surui, Chen, Meng, Yu, Yining, Tian, Zhongxiang, Li, Ming, Zhang, Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing The Chinese Society of Oceanography 01.05.2019; Springer Nature B.V; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai 519082, China%Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki 00101, Finland%Institute of Atmospheric and Earth Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland%College of Global Change and Earth System Sciences (GCESS), Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China%School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa 33620, USA%Meteorological Service of Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, Chongqing 409800, China%National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center, Beijing 100081, China; College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao 266061, China%Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Climate Change and Natural Disaster Studies, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China; National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center, Beijing 100081, China
• Subjects: Annual variations; Antarctic climate changes; Antarctic expeditions; Atmospheric sciences; Climate change; Climate studies; Climatology; Cyclones; Distribution; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Environmental Chemistry; Expeditions; Fjords; Fluctuations; Growth rate; Heat; Heat flux; Heat transfer; Ice; Ice cover; Ice formation; Ice thickness; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Melting; Oceanic heat flux; Oceanography; Seasonal variation; Seasonal variations; Snow; Snow and ice; Snow cover; Spatial distribution; Surface roughness; Thickness; Topography (geology); Wind; Antarctica; Prydz Bay; oceanic heat flux; East Antarctica; landfast ice; thickness
• ISSN: 0253-505X; 1869-1099
• DOI: 10.1007/s13131-018-1339-5

Annual observations of first-year ice (FYI) and second-year ice (SYI) near Zhongshan Station, East Antarctica, were conducted for the first time from December 2011 to December 2012. Melt ponds appeared from early December 2011. Landfast ice partly broke in late January, 2012 after a strong cyclone. Open water was refrozen to form new ice cover in mid-February, and then FYI and SYI co-existed in March with a growth rate of 0.8 cm/d for FYI and a melting rate of 2.7 cm/d for SYI. This difference was due to the oceanic heat flux and the thickness of ice, with weaker heat flux through thicker ice. From May onward, FYI and SYI showed a similar growth by 0.5 cm/d. Their maximum thickness reached 160.5 cm and 167.0 cm, respectively, in late October. Drillings showed variations of FYI thickness to be generally less than 1.0 cm, but variations were up to 33.0 cm for SYI in March, suggesting that the SYI bottom was particularly uneven. Snow distribution was strongly affected by wind and surface roughness, leading to large thickness differences in the different sites. Snow and ice thickness in Nella Fjord had a similar “east thicker, west thinner” spatial distribution. Easterly prevailing wind and local topography led to this snow pattern. Superimposed ice induced by snow cover melting in summer thickened multi-year ice, causing it to be thicker than the snow-free SYI. The estimated monthly oceanic heat flux was ∼30.0 W/m 2 in March-May, reducing to ∼10.0 W/m 2 during July–October, and increasing to ∼15.0 W/m 2 in November. The seasonal change and mean value of 15.6 W/m 2 was similar to the findings of previous research. The results can be used to further our understanding of landfast ice for climate change study and Chinese Antarctic Expedition services.