Experimental studies of sediment enrichment of arctic ice covers due to wave action and frazil entrainment

Two processes are investigated that are believed to contribute to the sediment enrichment of ice covers in coastal arctic waters. One process results from wave action which pumps sediment rich underlying water into the surface cover. The other enriching mechanism is produced by rising frazil that entrains suspended sediment which subsequently becomes incorporated in the surface ice layer. In both processes the sediment enrichment of the ice cover is found to depend upon the sediment size and concentration in the underlying water column. In the wave dependent process the rate of sediment enrichment is influenced by the period, amplitude, and duration of the wave action as well as the size of the ice particles and motion of the cover. Frazil rising through sediment laden water was found to entrain particles of sand far more effectively than silt. Sand laden frazil floe would often become so loaded with sediment that the floe would eventually settle to the floor of the water column.