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Coastal Polynyas of the White Sea: temporal and spatial variability
* 1 , 2 , 3
1  N.N.Zubov’s State Oceanographic Institute, Roshydromet, Moscow, Russia
2  Department of Oceanology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
3  Sea Ice Regime and Forecast Department, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia
Academic Editor: Jean-Louis Pinault

Abstract:

The White Sea is a semi-enclosed basin of the Arctic Ocean connected to the Barents Sea by the narrow Gorlo Strait. Coastal polynyas of the White Sea are sections of open water or thin ice near the coast. Wind and dynamic processes, such as currents and tides, maintain them. The tides in the White Sea have a significant impact on the water's dynamics. Strong semidiurnal tides with amplitudes up to 9 m propagate through Gorlo, creating vigorous tidal currents throughout the sea. This large tidal range also causes daily reversed flow and intense mixing at straits, affecting polynyas situated in the Gorlo Strait and nearby areas. Landfast ice extends only a few kilometers from the shore. Tidal oscillations break it up. Polynyas vary yearly with ice conditions. Coastal polynyas influence regional climate, warming the surrounding areas. New young ice forms in polynyas. Brine rejection in polynyas affects local salinity, water density and mixing. Tidal forcing maintains coastal open-water areas via mechanical stirring and amplifies mixing in the coastal shelf, reinforcing the thermal- and haline-related effects of polynyas. Coastal polynyas detected from the coastal polynyas of the White Sea have not been well studied. Kupetsky was among the first to publish on this topic in the mid-20th century (Kupetsky, 1959). The complex configuration of the coastline and the presence of narrow bays determine the heterogeneous impact of the wind and consequently the location of polynyas. Due to water dynamics, modeling coastal sloughs is difficult and often yields inconsistent results. Therefore, satellite data seem to be a good option for studying the dynamics of polynyas. The initial data of the regional charts of the sea ice conditions in the White Sea from the World Sea Ice Data Center (http://wdc.aari.ru/datasets/) from 1999 to 2025 was used to prepare a dataset of polynya characteristics, including area, spatial position, and variability over time. The spatial and temporal variability of polynyas during the specified period was analyzed using the obtained time series.

Keywords: White Sea, Arctic, polynyas, flaw lead, fast ice, ice
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