Wave attenuation through an Arctic marginal ice zone: Numerical modeling of waves and associated ice breakup

We tested the effects of basal friction, scattering by ice floes, dissipation in the ice layer due to dislocations, and ice breakup by waves on attenuation rates in sea ice.

Wave measurements taken in the Beaufort Sea revealed that viscous friction at the base of an ice layer gives a dissipation rate that may be too large near the ice edge where pancake ice is prevalent.

Where larger floes are present basal friction is not sufficient to account for the observed attenuation. We suggest wave attenuation is caused by ice flexure combined with basal friction that is reduced when the ice layer is not continuous.