Brine rejection

Salt rejected by the forming sea ice drains into the surrounding seawater, creating saltier, denser brine.

[1] This increase is associated with the appearance of strong convective plumes, which flow from channels and within the ice and carry a significant salt flux.

The brine that drains from the newly-formed ice is replaced by a weak flow of relatively fresh water from the liquid region below it.

[6] The annual increase of ice plays a major role in the movement of ocean circulation and deep water formation.

These two areas of brine rejection play an important role in the thermohaline circulation of all of Earth's oceans.

Ice freezing around the edges of the plume gradually builds a hollow icicle-like tube, called a brinicle.

These frozen stalactite-like forms are fragile during early stages, but if brine drainage ceases, they may freeze solid.

[8] The consequent increase in winter brine rejection will drive ocean ventilation and strengthen the inflow of warm Atlantic waters.

Studies of the last glacial maximum have indicated that a drastic reduction in the production of sea ice, and thus reduction of brine rejection, would result in the weakening of the stratification in the global deep oceans and in CO2 release into the shallow oceans and the atmosphere, triggering global deglaciation.

[9] Life in sea ice is energetically demanding, and sets limits at any hierarchical, organizational, and organismic level, ranging from molecules to everything that an organism does.

[clarification needed][9] Despite this fact, the brine-containing interstices and pockets found in sea ice host a variety of organisms, including bacteria, autotrophic and heterotrophic protists, microalgae, and metazoa.

The Okhotsk Sea has wide, shallow shelves, severe wintertime conditions, high background salinity, and easy summertime access, making it an ideal study location.