Modeling Sea Ice as a Granular Material, Including the Dilatancy Effect

A dynamic sea ice model based on granular material rheology is presented. The sea ice model is coupled to both a mixed layer ocean model and a one-layer thermodynamic atmospheric model, which allows for an ice albedo feedback. Land is represented by a 6-m thick layer with a constant base temperature. A 10-year integration including both thermodynamic and dynamic effects and incorporating prescribed climatological wind stress and ocean current data was performed in order for the model to reach a stable periodic seasonal cycle. The commonly observed lead complexes, along which sliding and opening of adjacent ice floes occur in the Arctic sea ice cover, are well reproduced in this simulation. In particular, shear lines extending from the western Canadian Archipelago toward the central Arctic, often observed in winter satellite images, are present. The ice edge is well positioned both in winter and summer using this thermodynamically coupled ocean–ice–atmosphere model. The results also yield a sea ice circulation and thickness distribution over the Arctic, which are in good agreement with observations. The model also produces an increase in ice formation associated with the dilatation of the ice medium along sliding lines. In this model, incident energy absorbed by the ocean melts ice laterally and warms the mixed layer, causing a smaller ice retreat in the summer. This cures a problem common to many existing thermodynamic–dynamic sea ice models.