Why doesn't the Artic Ocean freeze?

Question

it's so cold there!!!

Answer 1

It does freeze. Here's a polar ice chart from 2 days ago:
http://www.bsh.de/aktdat/mk/ICE/daily/n20061227.ic.gif

Answer 2

The Artic region receives the least amount of solar radiation, and most solar radiation (sunlight) is reflected off straight into space by Ice's reflective surface. As a result, the artic is cold. The equator, by contrast, is closer to the sun, so receives more heat from sunlight. As a result, the equator is hot. No suprises there then.

Water is an amazing compound, having a such a high heat capacity, allowing it to carry large amounts of thermal energy. The Atlantic and Pacific oceans transfer warm water from eqautor regions to the cold artic regions. As a result, the artic ocean's water is cold--but not so cold so that the entire ocean freezes over. At an ice sheets edge an equilibrium exists between water being frozen, and ice being melted. During the Artic's winter, when it gets colder, the equilbrium shifts in favour of freezing.

Answer 3

The water's too warm below the ice cap. Sea ice-present in the Arctic all year long-floats on top and insulates the warmer water below like an 8-foot thick white blanket.

Moreover, deeper water is saltier and therefore must drop to a lower temperature to freeze. Salt crystals interfere with the formation of ice crystals. This means that salty water must be colder than fresh water before it can freeze-as low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit (-1.8 degrees Celsius).

The key to the answer, however, is ocean circulation. That's how warm water gets into the Arctic Basin. The warm Gulf Stream sweeps northward along the eastern US coastline and splits: part into the Arctic Ocean and part out toward northern Europe. This warm water enters the Arctic Basin with a temperature of about 34 to 37 degrees F and gradually cools as it spreads westward. By the time it reaches the Beaufort Sea (a distance of about 1,200 miles or 2,000 kilometers, A in figure), it is a chilly 33 degrees F-- but still well above the freezing point of saline water.

Answer 4

The water's too warm below the ice cap. Sea ice-present in the Arctic all year long-floats on top and insulates the warmer water below like an 8-foot thick white blanket.

[NOAA] Spring stream flowing on the ice, Alaska North Slope

Moreover, deeper water is saltier and therefore must drop to a lower temperature to freeze. Salt crystals interfere with the formation of ice crystals. This means that salty water must be colder than fresh water before it can freeze-as low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit (-1.8 degrees Celsius).



[theodora.com] Gulf Stream enters the Arctic OceanThe key to the answer, however, is ocean circulation. That's how warm water gets into the Arctic Basin. The warm Gulf Stream sweeps northward along the eastern US coastline and splits: part into the Arctic Ocean and part out toward northern Europe. This warm water enters the Arctic Basin with a temperature of about 34 to 37 degrees F and gradually cools as it spreads westward. By the time it reaches the Beaufort Sea (a distance of about 1,200 miles or 2,000 kilometers, A in figure), it is a chilly 33 degrees F-- but still well above the freezing point of saline water.

Answer 5

It does. The Arctic ice sheet is just a massive frozen block of frozen ocean water with snow. As you progress south, it gets warmer so the Arctic Ocean is just the water that's too warm to freeze. Two things to keep in mind is that saltwater has a MUCH lower freezing point than freshwater. That's why in cold, snowy places, the city coats the roads with salt, so that the ice and the snow melts. Also, moving liquids decrease the freezing point as well, so putting it all together, the ocean water in the Arctic freezes at an incredibly low temperature only sustainable deep underwater below the Arctic Ice Sheet. (Note, all the surface ice on the ice sheet is freshwater ice, formed when snow fell and melted and refroze again.)

Answer 6

Parts of it are frozen. Other parts aren't. The parts that are below the freezing point of water freeze.

The average temperature is about -2 degrees Celcius, and most of the ocean is frozen throughout much of the year -- although the amount of ice pack varies greatly throughout the year as water freezes, melts and re-freezes.

Answer 7

It's much too big to freeze. The top will freeze occasionally, but not the whole thing. It's impossible for a body of moving changing water like that to completely freeze.

Also, salt water freezes at a much lower temp than fresh water.

Answer 8

Well, I think the water is so thick and it can't freeze but good point lakes freeze but the lake isn't as deep as the Artic Ocean

Answer 9

Salt water freezes at a much lower temperature than normal water. Also, the constant motion of the ocean keeps warm currents moving through.

Answer 10

Whoa...I've never seen so many erroneous answers for one question.

First, it does freeze; so does the sea water around the Antarctica. The so-called ice shelves or fast ice (like the Ross Shelf) are nothing more or less than frozen sea water.

Second, when ice shelves break up (in summer), they form ice floes or fields, not icebergs. [See source.]

Third, icebergs are formed when glaciers break off near unfrozen water. Thus, icebergs have more depth than floes because glaciers are generally deeper than ice shelves.

Fourth, sea water is salty; so it freezes around -1.8 deg C rather than the 0 deg C for fresh water. So the air above has to be really somewhat below minus two degrees Centigrade to suck of sufficient heat that the surface sea water reaches -1.8 deg C.

Depending on where you are on Antarctica, the average monthly temperature can reach as low as -60 deg C (near the pole). But up along the northern part of the Antarctica Peninsula, it is around 0 deg C year round, but slightly higher in their summer; so the ice shelves tend to melt away.

Answer 11

Some of it does freeze in the form of ice bergs but most of the area doesn't get above 32 degrees to freeze.