Lead (sea Ice) - Differences Between Leads and Polynyas

Differences Between Leads and Polynyas

Unlike polynyas, which tend to occur, and remain, at a given location, leads are transient features that can form anywhere in an ice-covered ocean. Moreover, while the origin of polynyas is linked with either warm air current circulation from the coastline or a warm water upwelling, the driving force behind lead formation is a state of stress, either wind- or current-induced, within the plane of the ice. Lead formation is therefore tied in with synoptic-scale weather patterns, typically lasting a few days. Also, because the open water within a lead tends to quickly refreeze, the contribution of leads to heat exchange and water vapour output to the atmosphere is significantly less than that of polynyas, where refreezing of the open water is prevented.

Read more about this topic:  Lead (sea Ice)

Famous quotes containing the words differences between, differences and/or leads:

    What strikes many twin researchers now is not how much identical twins are alike, but rather how different they are, given the same genetic makeup....Multiples don’t walk around in lockstep, talking in unison, thinking identical thoughts. The bond for normal twins, whether they are identical or fraternal, is based on how they, as individuals who are keenly aware of the differences between them, learn to relate to one another.
    Pamela Patrick Novotny (20th century)

    Toddlerhood resembles adolescence because of the rapidity of physical growth and because of the impulse to break loose of parental boundaries. At both ages, the struggle for independence exists hand in hand with the often hidden wish to be contained and protected while striving to move forward in the world. How parents and toddlers negotiate their differences sets the stage for their ability to remain partners during childhood and through the rebellions of the teenage years.
    Alicia F. Lieberman (20th century)

    There is a tide in the affairs of men
    Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
    Omitted, all the voyage of their life
    Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
    On such a full sea are we now afloat,
    And we must take the current when it serves
    Or lose our ventures.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)