The bimodality of the East Siberian fast ice extent: mechanisms and changes

Abstract

Using operational sea-ice maps, we provide first insight into the seasonal evolution of fast ice in the East Siberian Sea for the period between 1999 and 2021. The fast ice season tends to start later by 4.7 d per decade and to end earlier by 9.7 d per decade. As a result, there is a trend towards a shorter length of fast ice season by 2 weeks per decade. The analysis of air temperatures indicates that onset and end of the fast ice season are largely driven by thermodynamic processes. Two spatial modes (large, L-mode and small, S-mode) of East Siberian fast ice cover which have significant areal differences were distinguished. The occurrence of L- and S-modes was linked to the polarity of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) index. Negative AO phase leads to increased sea-ice convergence in the region, which in turn favours sea-ice grounding and promotes the development of large fast ice extent (L-mode). Lower deformation rates in the region during positive AO phase does not allow the formation of grounded features which results in small fast ice extent (S-mode). An analysis of sea-ice divergence confirms that L-mode seasons are characterised by higher on-shore convergence compared with S-mode seasons.