Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Supercooled water (SCW) with temperature below the in situ freezing point is a ubiquitous phenomenon accompanied by frazil and platelet ice production in polar waters. Despite its significance, a thorough understanding of SCW beneath the Arctic sea ice, particularly regarding its seasonal evolution, spatial variation, and influencing factors, is missing. Using hydrographic data collected by autonomous ice‐tethered buoys, including the Drift‐towing Oceanic Profiler and Ice‐Tethered Profiler, we describe the characteristics of a widespread several‐meter‐thick SCW layer underneath the ice, which strengthens from mid‐fall to winter and weakens in spring and is closely related to the seasonal evolution of near‐surface air temperature. Significant regional differences in supercooling characteristics were observed across the Arctic Ocean. Supercooling is most pronounced in the Eastern Central Arctic, with average supercooling magnitudes of 5–8 mK (uncertainty: ±3 mK) underneath the ice and proportions of supercooled profiles approaching 100% during winter. In contrast, the Beaufort Gyre region exhibits the weakest supercooling and greater spatial variability due to enhanced subsurface heat entrainment induced by storms.
DOI: 10.1029/2025jc022819
Authors: Yamei Tang, Tao Li, Benjamin Rabe, Christine Provost, Ruibo Lei, Jinping Zhao, Xingyuan Zhu
Institutions: Ocean University of China, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Polar Research Institute of China
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7101402852