Scaling in fracture and refreezing of sea ice

Sea ice breaks up and regenerates rapidly during winter conditions in the Arctic. Analyzing satellite data from the Kara Sea, we find that the average ice floe size depends on weather conditions. Nevertheless, the frequency of floes of size A is a power law, N∼A−τ, where τ=1.6±0.2, for A less than approximately 100km2. This scale-invariant behavior suggests a competition between fracture due to strains in the ice field and refreezing of the fractures. A cellular model for this process gives results consistent with observations.