On transitions in water wave propagation through consolidated to broken sea ice covers

Abstract

A theoretical model is used to study water waves propagating into and through a region containing thin floating ice, for ice covers transitioning from consolidated (large floe sizes) to fully broken (small floe sizes). The degree of breaking is simulated by a mean floe length. The model predicts deterministic limits for consolidated and fully broken ice covers where the wave fields do not depend on the particular realization of the ice cover for a given mean floe length. The consolidated ice limit is consistent with classic flexural-gravity wave theory, and the fully broken limit is well-modelled by Bloch waves in a periodic ice cover. In the transition between the limits, the wave field dep..