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Peer-reviewedCC BYNature communications

Inside-outward breakup of sea ice by locally generated waves in the Vincennes Bay Polynya.

  • Joey J Voermans1
  • Qingxiang Liu2
  • Lang Cao2
  • Josh Kousal3
  • Petra Heil4,5
  • Alexander D Fraser5,6
  • Clarence O Collins7,8
  • Jean Rabault9
  • Alexander V Babanin7
9 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. [email protected].
  2. 2State Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.
  3. 3European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Bonn, Germany.
  4. 4British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
  5. 5Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, nipaluna/Hobart, TAS, Australia.
  6. 6Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, nipaluna/Hobart, TAS, Australia.
  7. 7Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
  8. 8U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, Field Research Facility, Duck, NC, USA.
  9. 9Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway.
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Abstract

Coastal polynyas are recurring regions of open water within sea ice that serve as sea-ice factories, producing vast amounts of new ice relative to nearby sea-ice-covered regions. Their formation and persistence are commonly attributed to strong offshore winds, while the influence of waves on polynya dynamics remains largely unexplored. Using rare wave-buoy observations from the Vincennes Bay Polynya, we show that strong winds generate energetic waves capable of breaking surrounding sea ice from the inside-outward, contrasting with outside-inward breakup caused by Southern Ocean swells. Satellite records from 2003-2022 reveal that extreme wave-induced breakup events coincide with substantial reductions in sea-ice concentration that persist for at least one week, accompanied by increased transitions to active frazil ice. These findings demonstrate that locally generated waves impact polynya dynamics and reshape surrounding sea-ice conditions. As Antarctic coastal polynyas evolve under a changing climate, wave activity may become increasingly important in shaping their sea-ice conditions and evolution.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{voermans2026insideoutward,
  title = {{Inside-outward breakup of sea ice by locally generated waves in the Vincennes Bay Polynya.}},
  author = {Joey J Voermans and Qingxiang Liu and Lang Cao and Josh Kousal and Petra Heil and Alexander D Fraser and Clarence O Collins and Jean Rabault and Alexander V Babanin},
  journal = {Nature communications},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-77979-y},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42957686},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Inside-outward breakup of sea ice by locally generated waves in the Vincennes Bay Polynya.
AU  - Joey J Voermans
AU  - Qingxiang Liu
AU  - Lang Cao
AU  - Josh Kousal
AU  - Petra Heil
AU  - Alexander D Fraser
AU  - Clarence O Collins
AU  - Jean Rabault
AU  - Alexander V Babanin
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/29
JO  - Nature communications
DO  - 10.1038/s41467-026-77979-y
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42957686
AB  - Coastal polynyas are recurring regions of open water within sea ice that serve as sea-ice factories, producing vast amounts of new ice relative to nearby sea-ice-covered regions. Their formation and persistence are commonly attributed to strong offshore winds, while the influence of waves on polynya dynamics remains largely unexplored. Using rare wave-buoy observations from the Vincennes Bay Polynya, we show that strong winds generate energetic waves capable of breaking surrounding sea ice from the inside-outward, contrasting with outside-inward breakup caused by Southern Ocean swells. Satellite records from 2003-2022 reveal that extreme wave-induced breakup events coincide with substantial reductions in sea-ice concentration that persist for at least one week, accompanied by increased transitions to active frazil ice. These findings demonstrate that locally generated waves impact polynya dynamics and reshape surrounding sea-ice conditions. As Antarctic coastal polynyas evolve under a changing climate, wave activity may become increasingly important in shaping their sea-ice conditions and evolution.
SN  - 2041-1723
ER  -