Frontiers in Physics (Apr 2014)
Fracture Networks in Sea Ice
Abstract
Fracturing and refreezing of sea ice in the Kara sea are investigated using complex networkanalysis. By going to the dual network, where the fractures are nodes and their intersectionslinks, we gain access to topological features which are easy to measure and hence comparewith modeled networks. Resulting network reveal statistical properties of the fracturing process.The dual networks have a broad degree distribution, with a scale-free tail, high clusteringand efficiency. The degree-degree correlation profile shows disassortative behavior, indicatingpreferential growth. This implies that long, dominating fractures appear earlier than shorterfractures, and that the short fractures which are created later tend to connect to the longfractures.The knowledge of the fracturing process is used to construct growing fracture network (GFN)model which provides insight into the generation of fracture networks. The GFN model isprimarily based on the observation that fractures in sea ice are likely to end when hitting existingfractures. Based on an investigation of which fractures survive over time, a simple model forrefreezing is also added to the GFN model, and the model is analyzed and compared to the realnetworks.
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