THE ROLE OF RIVER RUNOFF IN THE INTERANNUAL VARIABILITY OF THE FAST-ICE EXTENSION IN THE RUSSIAN ARCTIC

I. A. Dmitrenko, V. A. Gribanov, D. L. Volkov, S. L. Berezovskaya, and H. Kassens

Based on data from coastal polar stations, satellite observations, and hydrological surveys from 1979 to 1998 by means of statistical analysis it is shown that river runoff in a flood period affects the fast-ice extension in the subsequent winter. It is established that fast-ice edge variations with respect to its normal position are out of phase with the interannual variability of major Siberian rivers—Ob, Yenisei, Lena, and Kolyma—in a spring flood period. In regions of the maximum interannual variability of the fast-ice extension, that is, in the eastern part of the Kara Sea and in the western part of the East Siberian Sea, up to 70% of variance is explained by the quasibiennial and quasitriennial periodicity in the intensity of the flood river runoff. The fact that variations of the fast-ice edge and river runoff are out of phase results from thermodynamic processes associated with the propagation of river water in the sea, and confirms the assumption of a negative impact of river runoff on ice formation in the Arctic shelf area.

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