Variation of diffuse attenuation coefficient of downwelling irradiance in the Arctic Ocean

The diffuse attenuation coefficient(Kd) for downwelling irradiance is calculated from solar irradiance data measured in the Arctic Ocean during 3rd and 4th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition(CHINARE), including 18 stations and nine stations selected for irradiance profiles in sea water respectively. In this study, the variation of attenuation coefficient in the Arctic Ocean was studied, and the following results were obtained. First, the relationship between attenuation coefficient and chlorophyll concentration in the Arctic Ocean has the form of a power function. The best fit is at 443 nm, and its determination coefficient is more than 0.7. With increasing wavelength, the determination coefficient decreases abruptly. At 550 nm, it even reaches a value lower than 0.2. However, the exponent fitted is only half of that adapted in low-latitude ocean because of the lower chlorophyll-specific absorption in the Arctic Ocean. The upshot was that, in the case of the same chlorophyll concentration, the attenuation caused by phytoplankton chlorophyll in the Arctic Ocean is lower than in low-latitude ocean. Second, the spectral model, which exhibits the relationship of attenuation coefficients between 490 nm and other wavelength, was built and provided a new method to estimate the attenuation coefficient at other wavelength, if the attenuation coefficient at 490 nm was known. Third, the impact factors on attenuation coefficient, including sea ice and sea water mass, were discussed. The influence of sea ice on attenuation coefficient is indirect and is determined through the control of entering solar radiation. The linear relationship between averaging sea ice concentration(ASIC, from 158 Julian day to observation day) and the depth of maximum chlorophyll is fitted by a simple linear equation. In addition, the sea water mass, such as the ACW(Alaskan Coastal Water), directly affects the amount of chlorophyll through taking more nutrient, and results in the higher attenuation coefficient in the layer of 30–60 m. Consequently, the spectral model of diffuse attenuation coefficient, the relationship between attenuation coefficient and chlorophyll and the linear relationship between the ASIC and the depth of maximum chlorophyll, together provide probability for simulating the process of diffuse attenuation coefficient during summer in the Arctic Ocean.     

海冰中侧向传播光衰减系数的解析验证

The attenuation of lateral propagating light(LPL) in sea ice was measured using an artificial light source in the Canadian Arctic during the 2007/2008 winter. The apparent attenuation coefficient μ(λ) for lateral propagating light was obtained from the measured logarithmic relative variation rate. In this study an analytical solution based on the strict optical theories is developed to validate the measured result. There is a good consistency between theoretical solution and measured data, by which a quite simple but very rigorous relationship among the light source, measurement geometry, and measured irradiance is established. The attenuation coefficients acquired by measurement and theory are the diffusion attenuation as an apparent optical property of ice, independent of the light source and shining condition. The attenuation ability of sea ice should be caused by the microstructure of sea ice, such as crystal size, ice density, brine volume, air inclusion, etc. It also includes the leak from both interfaces by directional scattering. It is verified that the measuring approach is operational and accurate to measure the attenuation of the LPL. The solution from this study did not tell the connection among the extinction and the inclusions of sea ice theoretically because of insufficient understanding.     

基于高光谱遥感的渤海海冰厚度半经验模型

Sea ice thickness is one of the most important input parameters for the prevention and mitigation of sea ice disasters and the prediction of local sea environments and climates. Estimating the sea ice thickness is currently the most important issue in the study of sea ice remote sensing. With the Bohai Sea as the study area, a semiempirical model of the sea ice thickness(SEMSIT) that can be used to estimate the thickness of first-year ice based on existing water depth estimation models and hyperspectral remote sensing data according to an optical radiative transfer process in sea ice is proposed. In the model, the absorption and scattering properties of sea ice in different bands(spectral dimension information) are utilized. An integrated attenuation coefficient at the pixel level is estimated using the height of the reflectance peak at 1 088 nm. In addition, the surface reflectance of sea ice at the pixel level is estimated using the 1 550–1 750 nm band reflectance. The model is used to estimate the sea ice thickness with Hyperion images. The first validation results suggest that the proposed model and parameterization scheme can effectively reduce the estimation error associated with the sea ice thickness that is caused by temporal and spatial heterogeneities in the integrated attenuation coefficient and sea ice surface. A practical semi-empirical model and parameterization scheme that may be feasible for the sea ice thickness estimation using hyperspectral remote sensing data are potentially provided.     

2008年夏季南海北部海区生物光学特性的垂向变化特征

Vertical variability in the bio-optical properties of seawater in the northern South China Sea(NSCS) including inherent optical properties(IOPs) and chlorophyll a concentration(Chl) were studied on the basis of in situ data collected in summer 2008 using an absorption/attenuation spectrophotometer. An empirical model was developed to estimate Chl profiles based on the absorption line height at long wavelengths, with a relative root mean square error of 37.03%. Bio-optical properties exhibited large horizontal and vertical spatial variability. As influenced by coastal upwelling and the Zhujiang River(Pearl River) discharge, both IOPs and Chl exhibited high values in the surface waters of the inner shelf, which tended to decrease with distance offshore. Subsurface maximum layers of IOPs and Chl were observed in the middle and outer shelf regions, along with significantly higher values of attenuation coefficients beneath this layer that rapidly increased towards the bottom. In the open ocean, both IOPs and Chl exhibited consistent variability, with the subsurface maximum layer typically located at34–84 m. Phytoplankton were found to be one of the major components in determining the vertical variability of bio-optical properties, with their vertical dynamics influenced by both physical forcing and light attenuation effects. The depth of the subsurface maximum layer was found to be closely related to the fluctuation of the oceanic thermocline and the depth of the euphotic zone, which also affected the total integrated biomass of the upper ocean. Typically high values of attenuation coefficients observed in the bottom waters of the continental shelf reflected the transport of particulate matter over the bottom boundary layer. Our results reveal large spatial differences in bio-optical profiles in response to complex marine ecodynamics in the NSCS. From the perspective of marine research, high-resolution optical measurements are clearly advantageous over conventional bottle sampling.     

2010年马卡罗夫海盆冰站观测期间垂向热通量时间变化研究

Based on hydrographic data obtained at an ice camp deployed in the Makarov Basin by the 4th Chinese Arctic Research Expedition in August of 2010, temporal variability of vertical heat flux in the upper ocean of the Makarov Basin is investigated together with its impacts on sea ice melt and evolution of heat content in the remnant of winter mixed layer(r WML). The upper ocean of the Makarov Basin under sea ice is vertically stratified. Oceanic heat flux from mixed layer(ML) to ice evolves in three stages as a response to air temperature changes, fluctuating from 12.4 W/m2 to the maximum 43.6 W/m2. The heat transferred upward from ML can support(0.7±0.3) cm/d ice melt rate on average, and daily variability of melt rate agrees well with the observed results. Downward heat flux from ML across the base of ML is much less, only 0.87 W/m2, due to enhanced stratification in the seasonal halocline under ML caused by sea ice melt, indicating that increasing solar heat entering summer ML is mainly used to melt sea ice, with a small proportion transferred downward and stored in the r WML. Heat flux from ML into r WML changes in two phases caused by abrupt air cooling with a day lag. Meanwhile, upward heat flux from Atlantic water(AW) across the base of r WML, even though obstructed by the cold halocline layer(CHL), reaches0.18 W/m2 on average with no obvious changing pattern and is also trapped by the r WML. Upward heat flux from deep AW is higher than generally supposed value near 0, as the existence of r WML enlarges the temperature gradient between surface water and CHL. Acting as a reservoir of heat transferred from both ML and AW, the increasing heat content of r WML can delay the onset of sea ice freezing.     

微型近红外光谱仪测量北极积雪覆盖海冰内部太阳辐照度可行性研究

The extremely low temperature, high humidity and limited power supply pose considerable challenges when using spectrometers within the Arctic sea ice. The feasibility of using a miniature low-power near-infrared spectrometer module to measure solar radiation in Arctic sea ice environments was investigated in this study.Temperature and integration time dependences of the spectrometer module were examined over the entire target operating range of –50℃ to 30℃, well below the specified operating range of this spectrometer. Using these observations, a dark output prediction model was developed to represent dark output as a function of temperature and integration time. Temperature-induced biases in the saturation output and linear operating range of the spectrometer were also determined. Temperature and integration time dependences of the signal output were evaluated. Two signal output correction models were developed and compared, to convert the signal output at any temperature within the operating temperature range and integration time to that measured at the reference temperature and integration time. The overall performance of the spectrometer was evaluated by integrating it into a refined fiber optic spectrometry system and measuring solar irradiance distribution in the ice cover with thickness of 1.85 m in the Arctic during the 9th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition. The general shape of the measured solar irradiance above the snow surface agreed well with that measured by other commercial oceanographic spectroradiometers. The measured optical properties of the sea ice were generally comparable to those of similar ice measured using other instruments. This approach provides a general framework for assessing the feasibility of using spectrometers for applications in cold environments.     

Regime shift of the dominant factor for halocline depth in the Canada Basin during 1990–2008

The World Ocean Database(WOD) is used to evaluate the halocline depth simulated by an ice-ocean coupled model in the Canada Basin during 1990–2008. Statistical results show that the simulated halocline is reliable.Comparing of the September sea ice extent between simulation and SSM/I dataset, a consistent interannual variability is found between them. Moreover, both the simulated and observed September sea ice extent show staircase declines in 2000–2008 compared to 1990–1999. That supports that the abrupt variations of the ocean surface stress curl anomaly in 2000–2008 are caused by rapid sea ice melting and also in favor of the realistic existence of the simulated variations. Responses to these changes can be found in the upper ocean circulation and the intermediate current variations in these two phases as well. The analysis shows that seasonal variations of the halocline are regulated by the seasonal variations of the Ekman pumping. On interannual time scale, the variations of the halocline have an inverse relationship with the ocean surface stress curl anomaly after 2000,while this relationship no longer applies in the 1990 s. It is pointed out that the regime shift in the Canada Basin can be derived to illustrate this phenomenon. Specifically, the halocline variations are dominated by advection in the 1990 s and Ekman pumping in the 2000 s respectively. Furthermore, the regime shift is caused by changing Transpolar Drift pathway and Ekman pumping area due to spatial deformation of the center Beaufort high(BH)relative to climatology.     

北极各海域海冰覆盖范围的变化特征

Sea ice in the Arctic has been reducing rapidly in the past half century due to global warming.This study analyzes the variations of sea ice extent in the entire Arctic Ocean and its sub regions.The results indicate that sea ice extent reduction during 1979–2013 is most significant in summer,following by that in autumn,winter and spring.In years with rich sea ice,sea ice extent anomaly with seasonal cycle removed changes with a period of 4–6 years.The year of 2003–2006 is the ice-rich period with diverse regional difference in this century.In years with poor sea ice,sea ice margin retreats further north in the Arctic.Sea ice in the Fram Strait changes in an opposite way to that in the entire Arctic.Sea ice coverage index in melting-freezing period is an critical indicator for sea ice changes,which shows an coincident change in the Arctic and sub regions.Since 2002,Region C2 in north of the Pacific sector contributes most to sea ice changes in the central Aarctic,followed by C1 and C3.Sea ice changes in different regions show three relationships.The correlation coefficient between sea ice coverage index of the Chukchi Sea and that of the East Siberian Sea is high,suggesting good consistency of ice variation.In the Atlantic sector,sea ice changes are coincided with each other between the Kara Sea and the Barents Sea as a result of warm inflow into the Kara Sea from the Barents Sea.Sea ice changes in the central Arctic are affected by surrounding seas.     

引入拖曳系数参数化的海冰自由漂流模拟研究

Many interesting characteristics of sea ice drift depend on the atmospheric drag coefficient(C_a) and oceanic drag coefficient(C_w).Parameterizations of drag coefficients rather than constant values provide us a way to look insight into the dependence of these characteristics on sea ice conditions.In the present study,the parameterized ice drag coefficients are included into a free-drift sea ice dynamic model,and the wind factor α and the deflection angle θ between sea ice drift and wind velocity as well as the ratio of C_a to C_w are studied to investigate their dependence on the impact factors such as local drag coefficients,floe and ridge geometry.The results reveal that in an idealized steady ocean,C_a/C_w increases obviously with the increasing ice concentration for small ice floes in the marginal ice zone,while it remains at a steady level(0.2-0.25) for large floes in the central ice zone.The wind factor α increases rapidly at first and approaches a steady level of 0.018 when A is greater than 20%.And the deflection angle θ drops rapidly from an initial value of approximate 80° and decreases slowly as A is greater than20%without a steady level like α.The values of these parameters agree well with the previously reported observations in Arctic.The ridging intensity is an important parameter to determine the dominant contribution of the ratio of skin friction drag coefficient(C_s' /C_s) and the ratio of ridge form drag coefficient(C_r'/C_r) to the value of C_a/C_w,α,and θ,because of the dominance of ridge form drag for large ridging intensity and skin friction for small ridging intensity among the total drag forces.Parameterization of sea ice drag coefficients has the potential to be embedded into ice dynamic models to better account for the variability of sea ice in the transient Arctic Ocean.     

Numerical simulation of influence of the anomalies of the Central-eastern Equatorial Pacific SST and Arctic seaice cover in summer on the atmospheric circulation

A series of numerical experiments have been conducted with a perpetual July, nine-level general circulation spectral model to determine the effect of variation of the Arctic sea ice cover extent and the joint effect of anomalies of both the Arctic sea ice cover and the Central-eastern Equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature on the summer general circulation. Results show that the two factors,anomalously large extent of the Arctic sea ice cover and anomalously warm sea surface temperature over the Central-eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean, play substantially the equal role in the effect on the summer general circulation, and either of them can notably induce the atmospheric anomalies. The main dynamical processes determining the effect of the Arctic sea ice and the equatorial SST anomalies are associated with two leading teleconnection patterns, i. e. the Asia North/American and Eurasian patterns observed in atmosphere. The results presented in this paper again prove that the general circulation is fun     

普里兹湾海冰季节性变化的高分辨率数值模拟

普里兹湾海冰以一年冰为主,海冰覆盖存在较大的季节性变化.海冰的分布及其季节性变化主要受当地大气环流及海流的影响.基于一个海洋-海冰耦和模式,模拟研究了该海区海冰的季节性变化特征.海洋模式基于MIT环流模式(MITgcm),海冰动力学模式参考Hibler类型的VP模型,热力学过程取自Winton三层模型.模式区域覆盖整个...     

雪热传导系数与穿过海冰的热通量研究

雪热传导系数是海冰质量平衡过程中的重要物理参数，决定了穿透海冰的热传导通量。北冰洋海冰质量平衡浮标观测获得多年冰上冬季温度链剖面可以明显地区分冰雪界面。本文考虑到冰雪界面处温度随时间变化，再根据冰雪界面热传导通量连续假定，提出了新的雪热传导系数计算方法。受不同环境因素影响，多年冰上各个浮标的雪热传导系数在0.23~0.41 W/（m·K）之间，均值为（0.32±0.08） W/（m·K）。北冰洋多年冰上冬季穿过海冰的热传导通量最大发生在11月至翌年3月，约14~16 W/m2。结冰季节，来自海冰自身降温的热量对穿过海冰向大气传输的热量贡献逐月减少，从9月100%减小到12月的35%，翌年的1月至3月稳定在10%左右。夏季，短波辐射通能量通过热传导自上而下加热海冰，海冰上层温度高于下层，热量传播方向与冬季反向，往海冰内部传递。直到9月短波辐射完全消失，气温下降，热量再次转变为自下往上传递。从冰底热传导来看，夏季出现海冰向冰水界面传递热量现象。由于雪较好的绝热性，冰上覆雪极大地削弱了海冰上层热传导通量，从而减缓了秋冬季节的结冰速度。尽管受雪厚影响，多年冰上层热传导通量与气温依旧具有很好的线性关系，气温每降低1℃，热传导通量增加约0.59 W/m2。     

北极阿蒙森湾一年冰物理和光学性质的观测研究

利用加拿大环极冰间水道系统研究项目,作者对2007年11月24日至2008年1月26日北极群岛阿蒙森湾海域秋冬季节一年冰的物理和光学性质进行了观测研究。结果显示,观测期间的海冰厚度整体在27～108 cm范围内变化,积雪厚度仅为0～6 cm。海冰温度、盐度和密度在冰内的分布特征为:海冰表层最低温度为–22.4℃,底层最高温度为–2.2℃,冰内温度随深度单调增大;盐度变化范围为3.30～11.70,冰内盐度剖面呈现“C”形,即表层和底层盐度较大,而中间层盐度较小;海冰的平均密度略大,为（0.91±0.03）g/cm3。通过观测人造光源在海冰中的透射辐射谱分布,发现一年冰的光谱透射辐射在490 nm和589 nm处呈明显的双峰结构,但随着海冰厚度的增加,双峰结构逐渐减弱,体现了海冰对于不同谱段辐射能衰减作用的差异。在可见光范围内,裸冰和雪覆冰的吸收率最小值出现在490 nm,在443～490 nm范围内二者的吸收率随波长增大而降低,在490～683 nm范围内二者的吸收率随波长增大而升高,但雪覆冰的吸收率在可见光范围内基本保持不变,体现了雪覆冰吸收率的光谱独立性。一年冰的谱衰减系数随波长呈“U”字形分布,紫光和红光谱段的衰减系数较大,中间谱段的衰减系数较小,589 nm波长的衰减系数最小,为1.7 m–1。将谱衰减系数在可见光范围内积分,得到一年冰的积分漫射衰减系数约为2.3 m–1,略高于多年浮冰的漫射衰减系数1.5 m–1。阿蒙森湾一年冰与加拿大海盆北部多年浮冰辐射光学性质的差异,主要源于陆源物质输入引起的海冰内含物组分的改变,而不同组分对光谱的吸收和散射性质不同,进一步导致了光学性质的整体变化。     

Dimethylsulphide and dimethylsulphoniopropionate in Antarctic sea ice and their release during sea ice melting

This study presents concentrations of dimethylsulphide (DMS) and its precursor compound dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) in a variety of sea ice and seawater habitats in the Antarctic Sea Ice Zone (ASIZ) during spring and summer. Sixty-two sea ice cores of pack and fast ice were collected from twenty-seven sites across an area of the eastern ASIZ (64°E to 110°E; and the Antarctic coastline north to 62°S). Concentrations of DMS in 81 sections of sea ice ranged from < 0.3 to 75 nM, with an average of 12 nM. DMSP in 60 whole sea ice cores ranged from 25 to 796 nM and showed a negative relationship with ice thickness (y = 125x^− 0.8). Extremely high DMSP concentrations were found in 2 cores of rafted sea ice (2910 and 1110 nM). The relationship of DMSP with ice thickness (excluding rafted ice) suggests that the release of large amounts of DMSP during sea ice melting may occur in discrete areas defined by ice thickness distribution, and may produce ‘hot spots’ of elevated seawater DMS concentration of the order of 100 nM. During early summer across a 500 km transect through melting pack ice, elevated DMS concentrations (range 21–37 nM, mean 31 nM, n = 15) were found in surface seawater. This band of elevated DMS concentration appeared to have been associated with the release of sea ice DMS and DMSP rather than in situ production by an ice edge algal bloom, as chlorophyll a concentrations were relatively low (0.09–0.42 μg l^− 1). During fast ice melting in the area of Davis station, Prydz Bay, sea ice DMSP was released mostly as extracellular DMSP, since intracellular DMSP was negligible in both hyposaline brine (5 ppt) and in a melt water lens (4–5 ppt), while extracellular DMSP concentrations were as high as 149 and 54 nM, respectively in these habitats. DMS in a melt water lens was relatively high at 11 nM. During the ice-free summer in the coastal Davis area, DMS concentrations in surface seawater were highest immediately following breakout of the fast ice cover in late December (range 5–14 nM), and then remained at relatively low concentrations through to late February (< 0.3–6 nM). These measurements support the view that the melting of Antarctic sea ice produces elevated seawater DMS due to release of sea ice DMS and DMSP.     

Interaction of an anticyclonic eddy with sea ice in the western Arctic Ocean: an eddy-resolving model study

The dramatic decline of summer sea ice extent and thickness has been witnessed in the western Arctic Ocean in recent decades, which hasmotivated scientists to search for possible factors driving the sea ice variability. An eddy-resolving, ice-ocean coupled model covering the entire Arctic Ocean is implemented, with focus on the western Arctic Ocean. Special attention is paid to the summer Alaskan coastal current (ACC), which has a high temperature (up to 5℃ ormore) in the upper layer due to the solar radiation over the open water at the lower latitude. Downstream of the ACC after Barrow Point, a surface-intensified anticyclonic eddy is frequently generated and propagate towards the Canada Basin during the summer season when sea ice has retreated away from the coast. Such an eddy has a warm core, and its source is high-temperature ACC water. A typical warm-core eddy is traced. It is trapped just below summer sea ice melt water and has a thickness about 60 m. Temperature in the eddy core reaches 2-3℃, and most water inside the eddy has a temperature over 1℃. With a definition of the eddy boundary, an eddy heat is calculated, which can melt 1 600 km² of 1mthick sea ice under extreme conditions.     

锥角对锥体结构抗冰性能影响的离散元分析

在寒区海洋工程中,锥体海洋结构的尺寸参数对其破冰性能具有重要影响。采用具有黏结-破碎功能的离散元方法模拟海冰与锥体结构的相互作用过程中海冰的破坏模式及冰载荷分析。该离散元方法的计算参数通过与渤海油气平台的实测数据对比进行了可靠性验证。在此基础上,当设计海域的潮差固定时,对不同锥角下风电单桩锥体结构的冰载荷和海冰破坏模式进行了离散元分析。计算结果表明:锥体冰载荷随锥角的增大而增大,海冰的平均断裂长度则随锥角的增大而减小;当锥角小于70°时海冰的破碎模式主要为弯曲破坏,而当锥角大于70°时海冰破坏模式则主要为挤压破碎。以上研究结果可为冰区海上风电单桩结构的抗冰锥设计提供参考。     

Circulation and hydrology under the seasonal ice in McMurdo Sound,Antarctica

Results are presented here of measurements of current velocity, temperature and salinity made at seven positions in McMurdo Sound (77° 50’ S, 166° 30’ E): four near the seasonal ice/fast ice boundary, two along the seasonal ice/sea boundary, and one in a channel in the sea ice. Current velocities were strongly influenced by tides with speeds greatest during periods of high tidal range. Current velocities changed rapidly in the upper 100 m and current speeds generally increased with depth to within 200 m of the bottom. In the lower 200 m current speed decreased towards the bottom. The mean circulation near the seasonal ice/fast ice boundary, found by eliminating the tidal variation, appears to consist of an inflow of water towards the fast ice at positions further than a mile (1.3 km) from Ross Island and a nett outflow from under the fast ice at positions closer than a mile (1.3 km) from Ross Island.     

Optical properties and surface energy flux of spring fast ice in the Arctic

Over the past decades, sea ice in the polar regions has been significantly affecting local and even hemispheric climate through a positive ice albedo feedback mechanism. The role of fast ice, as opposed to drift ice, has not been well-studied due to its relatively small coverage over the earth. In this paper, the optical properties and surface energy balance of land fast ice in spring are studied using in situ observations in Barrow, Alaska. The results show that the albedo of the fast ice varied between 0.57 and 0.85 while the transmittance increased from 1.3×10?3 to 4.1×10?3 during the observation period. Snowfall and air temperature affected the albedo and absorbance of sea ice, but the transmittance had no obvious relationship with precipitation or snow cover. Net solar shortwave radiation contributes to the surface energy balance with a positive 99.2% of the incident flux, with sensible heat flux for the remaining 0.8%. Meanwhile, the ice surface loses energy through the net longwave radiation by 18.7% of the total emission, while the latent heat flux accounts for only 0.1%. Heat conduction is also an important factor in the overall energy budget of sea ice, contributing 81.2% of the energy loss. Results of the radiative transfer model reveal that the spectral transmittance of the fast ice is determined by the thickness of snow and sea ice as well as the amount of inclusions. As major inclusions, the ice biota and particulates have a significant influence on the magnitude and distribution of the spectral transmittance. Based on the radiative transfer model, concentrations of chlorophyll and particulate in the fast ice are estimated at 5.51 mg/m2 and 95.79 g/m2, which are typical values in the spring in Barrow.     

Halocarbons associated with Arctic sea ice

Short-lived halocarbons were measured in Arctic sea–ice brine, seawater and air above the Greenland and Norwegian seas (~81°N, 2–5°E) in mid-summer, from a melting ice floe at the edge of the ice pack. In the ice floe, concentrations of C₂H₅I, 2-C₃H₇I and CH₂Br₂ showed significant enhancement in the sea ice brine, of average factors of 1.7, 1.4 and 2.5 times respectively, compared to the water underneath and after normalising to brine volume. Concentrations of mono-iodocarbons in air are the highest ever reported, and our calculations suggest increased fluxes of halocarbons to the atmosphere may result from their sea–ice enhancement. Some halocarbons were also measured in ice of the sub-Arctic in Hudson Bay (~55°N, 77°W) in early spring, ice that was thicker, colder and less porous than the Arctic ice in summer, and in which the halocarbons were concentrated to values over 10 times larger than in the Arctic ice when normalised to brine volume. Concentrations in the Arctic ice were similar to those in Antarctic sea ice that was similarly warm and porous. As climate warms and Arctic sea ice becomes more like that of the Antarctic, our results lead us to expect the production of iodocarbons and so of reactive iodine gases to increase.