On ocean current induced by a prograding ice pack

An ice cover which progrades over a shallow ocean may induce a baroclinic flow in the underlying water, providing that the brine excluded from the freezing surface layer is mixed rapidly through out the underlying water column. For a simplified model of the shallow northern part of the Bering Sea the near‐surface flow rate is of the order of 2 cm sec −1 and directed to the east. Volume transport, assuming a nominal depth of 100 m, is about 0.1 Sverdrup. Over a 3 month freezing period up to 800 km³ are transported through a given meridional section of this model. One might conclude that the process may play a significant role in winter circulation in the Bering Sea.