Excerpt:

>In a new study published today [5 December 2022] in the European Geosciences Union journal The Cryosphere, an international team of scientists synthesized multisource data from 2001 to 2018 to explore the spatiotemporal variations of both surface and basal melt/freeze onsets and uncover the mechanism behind them.

>These findings could improve our understanding of changes in the atmosphere–ice–ocean system and the mass balance of sea ice in a changing Arctic.

>“Thinner ice thickness and thinner snow cover favors earlier basal freeze onset. The ocean plays a cross-seasonal role in regulating the growth or decay of sea ice,” explains lead author Long Lin from the Polar Research Institute of China.

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>The researchers found that the overall average basal freeze onset of Arctic multiyear ice was almost 3 months later than the surface.

>According to Lin, although thinner ice generally experiences a longer freezing season, the total ice growth still cannot offset the sea ice loss in summer.

>“From another point of view, the self-regulation of the Arctic sea ice-ocean system will delay the loss of Arctic sea ice.”

>These results present the first complete picture of Arctic sea ice freeze-thaw cycle, and its coupling with atmosphere atop and ocean underlying.

>It also highlights the importance of synchronous comprehensive monitoring of air-ice-ocean system, which helps explain the physical nature of the coupling process.

The Cryosphere, 2022. DOI 10.5194/tc-16-4779-2022