Invisible polynyas: Modulation of fast ice thickness by ocean heat flux on the Canadian polar shelf

Although the Canadian polar shelf is dominated by thick fast ice in winter, areas of young ice or open water do recur annually at locations within and adjacent to the fast ice. These polynyas are detectable by eye and sustained by wind or tide‐driven ice divergence and ocean heat flux. Our ice‐thickness surveys by drilling and towed electromagnetic sounder reveal that visible polynyas comprise only a subset of thin‐ice coverage. Additional area in the coastal zone, in shallow channels and in fjords is covered by thin ice which is too thick to be discerned by eye. Our concurrent surveys by CTD reveal correlation between thin fast ice and above‐freezing seawater beneath it. We use winter time series of air and ocean temperatures and ice and snow thicknesses to calculate the ocean‐to‐ice heat flux as 15 and 22 W/m2 at locations with thin ice in Penny Strait and South Cape Fjord, respectively. Near‐surface seawater above freezing is not a sufficient condition for ocean heat to reach the ice; kinetic energy is needed to overcome density stratification. The ocean's isolation from wind under fast ice in winter leaves tides as the only source. Two tidal mechanisms driving ocean heat flux are discussed: diffusion via turbulence generated by shear at the under‐ice and benthic boundaries, and the internal hydraulics of flow over topography. The former appears dominant in channels and the coastal zone and the latter in some silled fjords where and when the layering of seawater density permits hydraulically critical flow. Key Points: Fast‐ice thickness varies with surface ocean temperature, as well as snow depth Thickness anomalies are linked to tidal enhancement of ocean heat flux Reductions up to 80 percent are undetectable by eye or infrared sensor