2026/01/01 by Laura Glastra, Brice Loose
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics #Brine #Marine and coastal ecosystems #Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena #Porosity #Sea ice #Seawater
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/jog.2026.10188
openalex publication_date 2026/01/01 · openalex created_date 2026/07/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03
Sea ice develops a porous structure as impurities from seawater are rejected during freezing.This study revisits factors regulating noble gas inclusion in sea ice and, for the first time, parameterizes the bulk sea ice-seawater partition coefficient (k iw )-the ratio of concentrations in sea ice to seawater-as a function of ice properties.Ten seawater freezing experiments were conducted in a gas-tight chamber to quantify gas partitioning.Experimental k iw spanned k iw, helium = 1.31-1.90,k iw, neon = 0.29-1.34,k iw, krypton = 0.12-0.67,k iw, xenon = 0.12-0.66,k iw, salt = 0.15-0.49,reflecting variations in ice growth rates and properties.Partitioning trends were analyzed against ice temperature, salinity, and growth rate (n = 10), and brine porosity (n = 8).Bulk sea ice salinity was the statistically strongest indicator of k iw and predicted >70% of variability in k iw, krypton and k iw, xenon .Doubling ice salinity (e.g. from 5 to 10) increased k iw by 140-150% for krypton and xenon.Neon did not exhibit statistically significant trends in k iw with ice properties, likely due to its small size and low solubility facilitating bubble nucleation and/or crystal lattice inclusion.Gases larger than the ice-I h cavity radius showed nearly identical k iw , consistent with firn diffusion models.