Thread: Why ice layer of antartica is thicker than sea ice of Arctic

Many people say:
South Pole is colder than north pole.This is becuase south pole is located in the highest land in the world-Antartica.
But...Antartica is the highest land because it has a thick layer of ice,about 2km.I think....why the thick layer ice cannot form on Arctic Ocean?The sea water has higher specific heat than water...so the temperature of north pole is A LITTLE warmer than south pole.
just a little warmer..but this is a big difference between the thickness of ice layer in North pole and South pole!
Who can explain to me><
Let us discuss and find out this answer!!!

:-D
just give me the suggestion and discuss about this..
i think this is becuase:
The sea water at top can freeze only..
but..how the ice in Antartica freeze?There are a little water at there only..

Land in the south. Snow accumulates, nowhere for it to go.
Water in the north. Ice can move away from the pole to warmer waters where it melts. No accumulation.

Please try to start thinking these things through.

From Wikipedia.

Antarctica is colder than the Arctic for two reasons. First, much of the continent is more than 3 kilometres (2 mi) above sea level, and temperature decreases with elevation. Second, the Arctic Ocean covers the north polar zone: the ocean's relative warmth is transferred through the icepack and prevents temperatures in the Arctic regions from reaching the extremes typical of the land surface of Antarctica.

how the ice in Antartica freeze?There are a little water at there only

Since about 15 Ma, the continent has been mostly covered with ice, with the Antarctic ice cap reaching its present extension around 6 Ma.

Originally Posted by Ophiolite

Land in the south. Snow accumulates, nowhere for it to go.
Water in the north. Ice can move away from the pole to warmer waters where it melts. No accumulation.

Please try to start thinking these things through.

Snow accumulate..and form ice?Much snow will become ice????It is so strange....How the ice form in Antartica?

I have know!The snow become ice:
a)The high pressure cause snow become ice...
b)The snow melt and refreeze to become ice
i think this both method can cause the snow become ice..i want to confirm..the two method can be accepted...my country has no snow..

1)one-year sea ice in the pole will melt in the summer.
2)one-year sea ice in the pole will float to warmer air and melt.
Which is true?Or both true?
I think...the first one is correct..i am not sure..

secondly,
why multi-sea ice(several meter) cannot be thick like the ice in the antartica(several km)?
In the antartica,the snow accumulate and become ice.After many year,the ice become very thick.But,why the multi-year sea ice cannot be thick like the ice in the antartica?The snow also can accumulate on the surface of multi-year sea ice and become thick..why?

As to your second question - what's the main difference between the Arctic and the Antarctic? do you think that might be responsible for the observations?

Arctic is a sea that surrounded by land.
Insteadly,Antartica is a land that surrounded by sea.
but,what is the effect on?

Ice on water can be more easily melted than ice on land. Ice on water can move long distances easily. Together this means that it is difficult for ice to accumulate in the Arctic, but easy for it to do so in the Antarctic.

Once the Arctic freezes over, Arctic storms are largely cut off from moisture resulting in lower snowfalls over the ice.

The Ocean surrounding the Antarctic never freezes and continues to serve as a source of moisture for storms that carry moisture (aka snow) well inland from the sea edge.

south pole is colder than north pole because:
it is located in the highest continent in the world,antarctica.
but its elevation is caused by the thick ice.
How thick ice form?
the snow fall and does not melt....accumulate and form thick ice.
Before thick ice form,both pole are not affect by elevation....
but why this situation does not occur in north pole?

Originally Posted by ~James~

Before thick ice form,both pole are not affect by elevation....
but why this situation does not occur in north pole?

Actually if you look at the elevation of the bedrock beneath the ice it's still pretty high, much of it 2500-5000 feet with ranges that are higher. The ice has probably weighted much of it down by several hundred feet as well. Due to higher elevation it would have been at least 10-25 F cooler even before the ice cap.

Hello. I extracted this piece of ice a while ago and was wondering if any of you can tell me how old it is: http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...0726091551.jpg

No, not without knowing where and when it was taken, and the precipitation history of the area.

On first guess, it looks like a season's worth of snowfall, but that's just a WAG.

Weather Wayne

Probably Holocene. :wink: