Observations of amplified roughness from crystalaccretion in the sub-ice ocean boundary layer

Geophysical Research Letters (2017)

We present estimates of crystal‐driven ocean boundary layer roughness in supercooled water beneath sea ice adjacent to the McMurdo/Ross Ice Shelf.

Data were collected from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, between 2007 and 2015, and represent a range of ice shelf‐affected conditions. The results show that drag of the rough ice underside in the presence of platelets is 6–30 times larger than typical levels homogeneously applied in ice‐ocean interaction models.

The crystal‐enhanced drag promotes increased entrainment into the boundary layer from the upper ocean, which could affect ice shelf evolution and sea ice growth through enhanced turbulent exchange of heat and momentum.