Cold, dense polar water descends from the surface and circulates along the ocean bottom toward the equator, while warm water from mid-depth to the surface travels from the equator toward the poles. Sea ice is frozen water that forms, expands, and melts in the ocean .
Why is sea ice extent increasing in Antarctica?
Increases in snow and rain falling onto the ocean contribute to the freshening of the ocean surface in the high latitudes of the Southern Ocean. Fresher, colder water freezes more easily, so this mechanism may contribute to the growth in area of Antarctic sea ice.
Why is the Arctic ocean permanently covered with ice?
So the Arctic Ocean has a layer of cold, fresh water near the surface with warmer, saltier water below . This cold, fresh water layer typically allows more ice growth in the Arctic than the Antarctic.
Where does sea ice occur on Earth?
Put bluntly, sea ice is ocean water that has frozen solid. Unlike glaciers (which form on land) or icebergs (which break off of glaciers and fall into the ocean), the freezing, growing, shrinking, and melting of sea ice all occurs in the waters of Earth's Arctic and Antarctic regions .
Is Polar ice freshwater or saltwater?
Polar ice caps are a combination of frozen sea water as well as snow that falls from the sky. When water freezes, due to the structure of ice, it leaves behind impurities such as salt, resulting in pure water (ice).
Do polar bears live in Antarctica?
Polar bears live in the Arctic, but not Antarctica . Down south in Antarctica you'll find penguins, seals, whales and all kinds of seabirds, but never polar bears. Even though the north and south polar regions both have lots of snow and ice, polar bears stick to the north. ... Polar bears don't live in Antarctica.
What would Antarctica be like without ice?
The weather will be fairly harsh even without the ice (six month “seasons” of summer sun and winter darkness), and Antarctica gets little precipitation, so will be quite dry and arid .
What is the coldest sea on earth?
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest, shallowest, and coldest part of the ocean.
What is the warmest ocean on Earth?
The waters of the Pacific Ocean comprise the world's largest heat reservoir, by far, and it is the warmest ocean, overall, of the world's five oceans.
Can you swim in Arctic Ocean?
My own answer as follows: The beach of Ягры, Северодвинск, Russia allow you to swim in Arctic Ocean's White Sea while overlooking occassional nuclear submarines passing by. I have been there and it's very possible to swim, even if waters are not very warm.
Can you drink melted sea ice?
Can you drink melted sea ice? New ice is usually very salty because it contains concentrated droplets called brine that are trapped in pockets between the ice crystals, and so it would not make good drinking water. ... Most multiyear ice is fresh enough that someone could drink its melted water.
How is sea ice monitored?
Sea ice mass balance measurements are made by buoys embedded in multi-year sea ice floes . The buoys carry instruments which include temperature sensors through the ice, an upward-looking sensor suspended beneath the ice and a sensor above the ice looking downwards.
Does frozen sea water contain salt?
Ocean water freezes at a lower temperature than freshwater.
Ocean water freezes just like freshwater, but at lower temperatures. ... When seawater freezes, however, the ice contains very little salt because only the water part freezes . It can be melted down to use as drinking water.
What is the world's largest ocean?
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the world ocean basins. Covering approximately 63 million square miles and containing more than half of the free water on Earth, the Pacific is by far the largest of the world's ocean basins.
Are polynyas permanent?
Polynyas are areas of persistent open water where we would expect to find sea ice . For the most part, they tend to be roughly oval or circular in shape, but they can be irregularly shaped, too. The water remains open because of processes that prevent sea ice from forming or that quickly move sea ice out of the region.
What are two reasons that ocean water sinks in the Arctic ocean?
What are two reasons that ocean water sinks in the Arctic Ocean? The surface water is colder and more salty than normal. The surface water is warmer and less salty than normal.
