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Conclusions
- Isotopic and fluorescent tracers have been shown to provide data on the rates and pathways of meltwater transport in the summer pack-ice environment.
- In particular during the first half of the ablation season, substantial lateral transport of meltwater takes place in the uppermost ice layers and within ponds at characteristic length/time scales of several m/hr. Owing to the low permeability of the underlying ice, runoff of meltwater and hence the area and depth of melt ponds is controlled by the density and size of conduits or permeable zones.
- The linkage between permeability, pore size and advective heat transfer in the ice cover results in a positive feedback that increases discharge through high-permeability zones.
- The localized discharge (through cracks and holes) as well as seepage through permeable zones (bottoms of melt ponds) leads to formation of underwater ice and false bottoms, locking substantial amounts of freshwater for at least part of the melt season.
- Desalination of level sea ice is controlled by vertical and lateral percolation of freshwater from above and below, often associated with substantial heat transfer and internal ice melt.
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