A note on brine layer spacing of first‐year sea ice

Abstract

Brine layer spacing has been measured in a core sample taken 19 January 1978 from Eclipse Sound, Baffin Island, Canada. Observations on snow and ice conditions and a record of air temperatures for the entire growth season allowed correlation of the brine layer spacing with the growth rate of the sea ice. Growth rate is related to climatology, and the vertical brine layer spacing profile in the ice provides a record of previous weather conditions. It is suggested that the spacing is inversely proportional to the growth rate, and could also be dependent on crystallographic orientation. The spacing decreased rapidly with depth near the bottom of the core sample, and this is not compatible with a general relation between spacing and growth rate. Before a definitive statement can be made, cores from a variety of locations, grown in a range of meteorological conditions, will have to be studied.