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Sea ice convergence along the Arctic coasts of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Variability and extremes (1992–2014)
Author(s) -
Kwok Ron
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl065462
Subject(s) - arctic , archipelago , climatology , arctic ice pack , sea ice , convergence (economics) , arctic geoengineering , ice core , oceanography , geology , environmental science , antarctic sea ice , economics , economic growth
After the summer of 2013, a convergence‐induced tail in the thickness distribution of the ice cover is found along the Arctic coasts of Greenland and Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Prompted by this, a normalized ice convergence index (ICI) is introduced to examine the variability and extremes in convergence in a 23 year record (1992–2014) of monthly ice drift. Large‐scale composites of circulation patterns, characteristic of regional convergence and divergence, are examined. Indeed, the ICI shows the June 2013 convergence event to be an extreme (i.e., ICI > 2). Furthermore, there is a cluster of 9 months over a 17 month period with positive ICIs (i.e., >1) following the record summer minimum ice extent (SMIE) in 2012; the imprint of ice dynamics from this cluster of positive ICIs likely contributed to higher SMIEs in 2013 and 2014. The impact of convergence on SMIE is discussed, and the increase in Arctic ice volume in 2013 is underscored.