Estimation of oxygen and carbonic acid diffusion through sea ice

Sea ice differs significantly from that formed by frozen fresh water in its abundance of pores. The pores are filled either by liquid, i.e., by brine, or by gas, i.e., by air. The gas permeability of the pore visibly exceeds the gas permeability of continuous solid ice with no pores. Expressions for the diffusion coefficients of oxygen and CO₂ through sea ice at a given ice temperature and salinity are obtained. Calculations of the gas transfer for the central part of the Chukchi Sea are fulfilled. Numerical experiments have shown that gas fluxes through thin sea ice are not negligibly small. The fluxes significantly decrease only if one-year ice thickness exceeds about 100 cm.