The Effect of Tides on the Volume of Sea Ice in the Arctic Ocean

Tides are believed to drive vertical mixing in the Arctic Ocean, thereby helping heat to reach the bottom of the sea ice layer, especially in regions with thick ice covers. However, tides are usually not included in ocean models. We investigated the effect of tides on sea ice in the Arctic Ocean using an ice-coupled ocean model that includes tides simultaneously. We found that with tidal forcing, the volume of sea ice increased by 8.5% in Baffin Bay, whereas it decreased by 17.8% in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The increase in sea ice volume in Baffin Bay results from the convergence of sea ice, driven by tidal residual currents. In contrast, the decrease in ice volume in the Canadian Archipelago is due to the suppression of ice formation in winter, especially in areas with steep topography, where the vertical mixing of temperature is enhanced by tides. Our results imply that tides should be directly included into the oceanic general circulation model (OGCM) to realistically reproduce the distribution of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.