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    Original Research Papers

    Gas diffusion through columnar laboratory sea ice: implications for mixed-layer ventilation of CO2 in the seasonal ice zone

    Authors:

    B. Loose ,

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University; Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US
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    P. Schlosser,

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University; Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, US
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    D. Perovich,

    US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, US
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    D. Ringelberg,

    US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, US
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    D.T. Ho,

    Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, US
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    T. Takahashi,

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, US
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    J. Richter-Menge,

    US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, US
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    C.M. Reynolds,

    US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, US
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    W.R. Mcgillis,

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University; Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, 918 Seeley Mudd Building, Columbia University, US
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    J.-L. Tison

    Laboratoire de Glaciologie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, BE
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    Abstract

    Gas diffusion through the porous microstructure of sea ice represents a pathway for ocean.atmosphere exchange and for transport of biogenic gases produced within sea ice. We report on the experimental determination of the bulk gas diffusion coefficients, D, for oxygen (O2) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) through columnar sea ice under constant ice thickness conditions for ice surface temperatures between -4 and -12°C. Profiles of SF6 through the ice indicate decreasing gas concentration from the ice/water interface to the ice/air interface, with evidence for solubility partitioning between gas-filled and liquid-filled pore spaces. On average, DSF6 was 1.3 × 10-4 cm2 s-1 (±40%) and DO2 was 3.9 × 10.5 cm2 s-1 (±41%). The preferential partitioning of SF6 to the gas phase, which is the dominant diffusion pathway produced the greater rate of SF6 diffusion. Comparing these estimates ofD with an existing estimate of the air.sea gas transfer through leads indicates that ventilation of the mixed layer by diffusion through sea ice may be negligible, compared to air.sea gas exchange through fractures in the ice pack, even when the fraction of open water is less than 1%.

    How to Cite: Loose, B., Schlosser, P., Perovich, D., Ringelberg, D., Ho, D.T., Takahashi, T., Richter-Menge, J., Reynolds, C.M., Mcgillis, W.R. and Tison, J.-L., 2011. Gas diffusion through columnar laboratory sea ice: implications for mixed-layer ventilation of CO2 in the seasonal ice zone. Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology, 63(1), pp.23–29. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2010.00506.x
      Published on 01 Jan 2011
    Peer Reviewed
     CC BY 4.0
     Accepted on 12 Aug 2010            Submitted on 30 Jun 2009

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