Polynie

A polynie is a zone which is maintained free of ice or glaze of a very thin layer of ice located in the middle of the ice-barrier in Arctique or in the Antarctic. One finds the one year polynies on the other about in the same place even if their form can vary. The polynies can reach several hundred kilometers. The polynies of the Mer of Weddell are particularly remarkable.

The polynies are created by one of the two following phenomena:

increase of hotter water currents started by the local topogrophie or other phenomena related to the currents
the process of generation of the blocks of ices in the zones where they are formed: the wind (blowing of the continent in the Antarctic) draws aside the lately formed ice and clears a free zone of ices.

The polynies play a big role in the ecology of the Arctic Ocean. They offer a zone of interstitial water to the marine mammals, Manchot S, Polar bear S. who do not migrate during the winter. Their wealth of plankton - this one can develop as soon as the sun appears - starts the food chain which to final provides its subsistence to the marine mammals, penguins,…

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