The amount of Ice contained in frozen or partially frozen soil or rock. Ice Content is normally expressed in one of two ways: on a dry-weight basis (gravimetric), as the ratio of the mass of the Ice i
n a sample to the mass of the dry sample, expressed as a percentage, or on a volume basis (volumetric), as the ratio of the volume of Ice in a sample to the volume of the whole sample, expressed as a fraction. The volumetric Ice Content cannot exceed unity whereas the gravimetric Ice Content can greatly exceed 100%.
An ice mass which has been drilled from an accumulation of snow and ice that has built up over many years and that has recrystallized and has trapped air bubbles from previous time periods.
A core sample drilled from the accumulation of snow and ice over many years that have recrystallized and have trapped air bubbles from previous time periods, the composition of which can be used to re
construct past climates and climate change; typically removed from an ice sheet (Antarctica and Greenland) or from high mountain glaciers elsewhere.
The determination of layering, usually identifiable as Annual or seasonal, in an ice core by visual, chemical, or isotopic methods; more loosely, the result of such determination. After correction for
thinning due to ice flow, the resulting layer thicknesses are measures of climatic mass balance. If there is no ablation, they are measures of accumulation. While some information can be obtained from cores even when the ice is not cold, ice-core stratigraphy is usually done on cores through cold ice, such as in Greenland or Antarctica.
Floating ice covering a water area regardless of its age, concentration, mobility and other characteristics. This is the most general notion, usually requiring further specification. The ice cover bou
ndaries are the ice edge and the coastline.
Sea ice terminology. Describes the ratio of an area of ice to the total area of water surface within a large geographic area. This area may be global, hemispheric, or defined by a specific oceanograph
ic entity such as Baffin Bay or the Barents Sea.
The ratio of an area of ice of any concentration to the total area of sea surface within some large geographic locale; this locale may be global, hemispheric, or prescribed by a specific oceanographic
entity such as Baffin Bay or the Barents Sea.