Toward a new elastic–decohesive model of Arctic sea ice

This paper argues for a new constitutive model, an elastic–decohesive model for sea ice. The model is motivated by examining satellite observations of the Arctic processed to show ice deformation in the form of divergence, shear and vorticity. The model is implemented numerically in the material-point method and used to predict motion and deformation of sea ice by simulating a region of the Beaufort Sea. The model is able to capture the qualitative and statistical behavior of localized deformation seen in the observations.

► Satellite observations show Arctic sea-ice deformation isolated in leads.
► Analysis of satellite observations shows that leads correlate with shear deformation.
► An elastic–decohesive model directly predicts the initiation and evolution of leads.
► The model predicts a pattern of leads that correlate with computed shear deformation.
► The model predicts distributions of lead opening as in satellite images.