WATER CIRCULATION AND SEA ICE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE IN THE MARGINAL ZONE OF THE LAPTEV SEA FLAW POLYNYA

I. A. Dmitrenko, K. P. Tyshko, E. A. Holemann, H. Eicken, and H. Kassens

Features of the surface water circulation near the fast ice edge of the flaw polynya have been investigated on the basis of field measurements in the Laptev Sea during April—May 1999. The conclusion about a convective nature of the measured surface currents with a velocity of up to 62 cm/s is made from CTD profiles and current records. These currents seem to be part of the circulation cells formed due to the brine rejection during intensive ice formation in the polynya. The spatial ice crystal alignment in the flaw polynya is a result of a quasi-stationary cell water circulation at the edge of the polynya.