Thread: phases of water

why is it that in the arctic region there is water underneath and ice above?

Why should the Arctic be different from my glass of iced tea?

Originally Posted by avinash mehta

why is it that in the arctic region there is water underneath and ice above?

The ice forms on top of the water, due to the fact that ice is less dense that liquid water, and insulates the water beneath, preventing it from freezing.

CHEMboy wrote

The ice forms on top of the water, due to the fact that ice is less dense that liquid water, and insulates the water beneath, preventing it from freezing.
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but why is it tha ice and water exist simultaneously for years together??

I suppose a related question is how deep does the permafrost go. We know the center of the earth is very hot, so the permafrost could only penetrate to a limited depth. In the case of the oceans, there are probably some convection currents beneath the insulating ice layer that bring heat from warmer latitudes.