The Cryosphere

Sea ice is a mushy layer

  1. D. L. Feltham1,2,
  2. N. Untersteiner3,
  3. J. S. Wettlaufer4,
  4. M. G. Worster5

Article first published online: 19 JUL 2006

DOI: 10.1029/2006GL026290

Issue

Geophysical Research Letters

Geophysical Research Letters

Additional Information

How to Cite

Feltham, D. L., N. Untersteiner, J. S. Wettlaufer, and M. G. Worster (2006), Sea ice is a mushy layer, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L14501, doi:10.1029/2006GL026290.

Author Information

  1. 1

    Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, London, UK

  2. 2

    British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK

  3. 3

    Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

  4. 4

    Department of Geology and Geophysics and Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

  5. 5

    Institute of Theoretical Geophysics, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 19 JUL 2006
  2. Article first published online: 19 JUL 2006
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 6 JUN 2006
  4. Manuscript Revised: 31 MAY 2006
  5. Manuscript Received: 13 MAR 2006

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[1] Sea ice is a two-phase, two-component, reactive porous medium: an example of what is known in other contexts as a mushy layer. The fundamental conservation laws underlying the mathematical description of mushy layers provide a robust foundation for the prediction of sea-ice evolution. Here we show that the general equations describing mushy layers reduce to the model of Maykut and Untersteiner (1971) under the same approximations employed therein.

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