Investigating the interactions among river flow, salinity and sea ice using a global coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice model

A global coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice model is used to examine the interdependence among several components of the hydrologic cycle in the Arctic Ocean, including river discharge, sea-ice cover, and the flow of sea ice through Fram Strait. Since the ocean model has a free surface, fresh-water inflow from rivers is added directly to the ocean. The timing of the peak spring river flow depends on snowmelt runoff and its subsequent routing through the river system. Thermodynamic sea ice is included, and a new sea-ice advection scheme is described. The model's river discharge affects salinity at the mouth of large rivers. The effect of the river discharge on sea-ice cover is not clear, either locally or at the basin scale. There is significant inter-annual variability of ice flow through Fram Strait, but the model's flow is about half of that observed. The anomalous ice flow through Fram Strait is most highly correlated with the meridional wind stress. Potential implications for the "great salinity" anomaly are discussed.