Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Antarctic landfast sea ice (fast ice) is stationary sea ice that is attached to the coast, grounded icebergs, ice shelves, or other protrusions on the continental shelf. Fast ice forms in narrow (generally up to 200 km wide) bands, and ranges in thickness from centimeters to tens of meters. In most regions, it forms in autumn, persists through the winter and melts in spring/summer, but can remain throughout the summer in particular locations, becoming multi‐year ice. Despite its relatively limited extent (comprising between about 4% and 13% of overall sea ice), its presence, variability and seasonality are drivers of a wide range of physical, biological and biogeochemical processes, with both local and far‐ranging ramifications for the Earth system. Antarctic fast ice has, until quite recently, been overlooked in studies, likely due to insufficient knowledge of its distribution, leading to its reputation as a “missing piece of the Antarctic puzzle.” This review presents a synthesis of current knowledge of the physical, biogeochemical and biological aspects of fast ice, based on the sub‐domains of: fast ice growth, properties and seasonality; remote‐sensing and distribution; interactions with the atmosphere and the ocean; biogeochemical interactions; its role in primary production; and fast ice as a habitat for grazers. Finally, we consider the potential state of Antarctic fast ice at the end of the 21st Century, underpinned by Coupled Model Intercomparison Project model projections. This review also gives recommendations for targeted future work to increase our understanding of this critically‐important element of the global cryosphere.
Source: Reviews of Geophysics
DOI: 10.1029/2022rg000770
Authors: Alexander D. Fraser, Pat Wongpan, Patricia Jean Langhorne, Andrew R. Klekociuk, Kazuya Kusahara, Delphine Lannuzel, Robert A. Massom, Klaus M Meiners, Kerrie Swadling, Daniel P Atwater, Gemma Brett, Matthew Jeremy Corkill, Laura Dalman, Sonya L Fiddes, Antonia Granata, Letterio Guglielmo, Petra Heil, Gregory H Leonard, Andrew Richard Mahoney, Andrew McMinn, Pier van der Merwe, Christine Kim Weldrick, Barbara Wienecke
Institutions: University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Otago, Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, University of Canterbury, University of Messina, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,700
OpenAlex ID: W4381848418