Impact of River Discharge and Regional Climatology on the Decay of Sea Ice in the Laptev Sea during Spring and Early Summer

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Abstract
Summer sea-ice conditions in the Laptev Sea are characterized by high interannual variability. The impact of Lena River discharge, one of the Arctic's major rivers discharging roughly 525 km(3) annually onto the Laptev shelf, and the regional meteorological regime affect the spring and summer ice regime of the Laptev Sea. Using ground and remote-sensing data and statistical analyses, it is shown that river discharge plays an insignificant role in the large-scale decay of the Laptev Sea ice cover. Hydrological and remote sensing data for the period 1979-1990 show that discharge/sea-ice interactions are confned to the coastal regions, with Lena River water flooding a fast-ice belt, roughly 25 km wide, in early to mid-June. Sea-ice decay and summer ice extent are shown to be affected most strongly by dynamic atmospheric forcing and by opening and enlargement of coastal polynyas in early sprin

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