Ice core characteristics from the Belcher Islands and Sanikiluaq, NU

The objective of this study is to gather landfast ice data in collaboration with a community-based monitoring program based out of Sanikiluaq, NU. Community members observed differences in the thickness and properties of the ice during some years that they considered possibly related to changes in the properties of the water underlying the ice or changes in currents and circulation. Previous studies have found that the area south and east of the Belcher Islands has shallow stratification throughout winter because of accumulation of river water originating in James Bay. A shallow subsurface water mass at a depth of ~ 30 m also contains remnant heat from the previous summer, which may affect ice properties at sites of upwelling. The landfast ice data and observations collected at the Belcher Islands comprise part of the PhD thesis research of University of Manitoba student Aura Diaz. Among her research interests is the response of sea ice to changes in high-latitude climate- and marine systems, and the role of sea ice in providing feedbacks to these processes. Her observations of ice and auxiliary parameters (snow, winds, air temperatures, surface water temperature and salinity, etc.) seek to improve understanding of how the environmental factors of the atmosphere (temperature, wind, etc.) and ocean (salinity, circulation, etc.) control sea ice growth and melt, and how the structure and properties of the sea ice are affected. This research helps address major gaps in our understanding of atmosphere-ice-ocean interactions and how changing sea ice feedback processes, in turn, modify these atmospheric and oceanic environmental factors. A more complete understanding of the processes connecting the atmosphere, sea ice and ocean will help improve how landfast ice, especially in areas with significant river water presence in winter, is represented in Earth System models.