Explain the difference between the way glaciers and sea ice accumulate ice. What role do ocean currents play in the distribution of sea ice? What are the two primary ways sea ice affects climate?
Explain the difference between the way glaciers and sea ice
accumulate ice.
What role do ocean currents play in the distribution of sea
ice?
What are the two primary ways sea ice affects climate?
Sea ice differs from the way glaciers accumulate because it forms, expands, and melts entirely on an ocean surface, whereas glaciers form on land in areas where the amount of ice that accumulates far exceeds the amount of ice that melts annually.
The formation of sea ice is driven by ocean currents that transport heat and nutrients away from the equator. These currents called thermohaline currents transport warm water northwards along the ocean surface from the equator towards the polar regions, where the highly saline water sinks, lowering the ocean surface temperatures that cause sea ice to form.
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