Polar Outreach Catalogue

The thickness and growth of coastal sea ice during winter is a key unknown when considering polar influences on climate. Much of the coastline of Antarctica is ice shelf. Melting and/or freezing at the base of an ice shelf influences the heat content and salinity of the water in contact with it. In turn this strongly controls near-surface oceanography. These processes, and their influence on sea ice growth, were measured by scientists who spent the winter of 2009 on the land-fast sea ice of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.