Earth  ID: 11238

The Breakup

Story by Adam P. Voiland Released on April 30, 2013
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Winds, currents, storms, and young ice produced a wave of fractures in Arctic sea ice during winter 2013.
Visualizations can give the impression that the Arctic ice cap is a continuous sheet of stationary, floating ice. In fact, it's a collection of smaller pieces that constantly shift, crack and grind against one another as they are jostled by winds and ocean currents. Especially during the summer, but even during the height of winter, cracks can open up between pieces of ice. That's what was happening during February and March 2013, when extensive fracturing took place in the Beaufort Sea. A series of storms passing over central Alaska intensified the cracking, but the age of the sea ice involved also played a role. The area was covered almost completely by thin, first-year ice, rather than older and sturdier ice because of the ongoing retreat of Arctic sea ice associated with climate change. Watch the video to see a time-lapse view of the breakup from images taken by the Suomi NPP satellite.
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Cracks in the ice moved progressively east after opening up near Barrow, Alaska, in February 2013.
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In mid-February, the massive arc-shaped wave of fractures had begun to emerge and propagate east.
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During the next few weeks, the fracturing had expanded dramatically.
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By March, the fracturing had nearly reached Canada's Banks Island.

For More Information

NASA Earth Observatory

Story Credits

Visualizer/Animator:
Jesse Allen (Sigma Space Corporation)

Lead Writer:
Adam P. Voiland (Sigma Space Corporation)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Earth Observatory

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11238

Keywords:
SVS >> App
NASA Science >> Earth