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Glossary

The English version of our glossary is currently under construction and will be regularly updated.

Ice age

An ice age or glacial period is characterised by a long-term temperature reduction in the Earth’s climate, which leads continental ice sheets and alpine glaciers to grow (glaciation).

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Ice algae

One of the various types of algae communities found in first-year and multiyear sea ice.

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Green and brown instead of white: a patch of ice permeated by ice algae in the Antarctic.

Ice concentration

The ratio (expressed in tenths) of the ice-covered surface to the overall water surface at a given time and in a discrete area.

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Ice core

A cylindrical core of ice retrieved from a glacier or ice sheet.

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Ice cuts with air and sediment inclusions.

Ice drift

Refers to the motion of sea ice in one main direction.

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Main Arctic drifting systems.

Ice edge

The border between the open ocean and sea ice of any kind, whether fast or drifting, at a given time.

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Ice field

An area filled with drifting ice, consisting of floes of all sizes, and with a diameter of more than 10 km.

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Ice floe

Any comparatively flat piece of sea ice that is at least 20 m wide.

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Ice keel

The part of a pressure ridge that extends below the water’s surface.

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Ice limit

A climatological term that refers to the projected maximum or minimum sea-ice extent in a given month or other timeframe, determined on the basis of years of observation.

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Ice micrographs

Microsections.

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Thin section of sea-ice under crossed-polarized light.

Ice rind

A brittle, shiny crust of ice.

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Ice sheet

Extensive ice cover on land in the polar regions.

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Ice shelf

An ice shelf is a large, floating sheet of ice with an extensive level or slightly undulating surface, and which is connected to and fed by glaciers, ice flows or ice caps.

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Schematic sketch of the difference between sea ice, ice shelves, icebergs and land ice.

Ice thickness

Thickness of sea ice.

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Various parameters in the context of sea-ice thickness measurements.

Ice-albedo feedback

A climate feedback concerning changes in the Earth’s albedo.

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Ice and snow albedo feedback processes under current conditions (above) and under unchecked warming (below).

Ice-free

Absence of sea ice.

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Calculating sea-ice extent and sea-ice area.

Iceberg

Icebergs are formed when large pieces of ice shelves or glaciers break away or calve and land in the water.

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Icebergs in the Antarctic.

In-situ

In-situ (“in-situation”) means “on site” and refers to readings or observations that are gathered directly on site, without the need for transporting samples or data elsewhere.

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Inconsistencies

Discrepancies between two conditions, where both are considered valid but contradict one another.

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Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid industrial growth, with far-reaching social and economic consequences, that began roughly in the year 1750.

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Inland ice

Huge ice masses that can be over 4,000 m thick, cover broad expanses of land, and form at the edges of glacier termini or break off (“calve”) at the ocean’s edge with vertical walls, producing icebergs in the process; today, only to be found in Greenland and the Antarctic.

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Inorganic carbon

Carbon compounds that are not based on carbon-carbon or carbon-hydrogen bonds. Examples of inorganic carbon include carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), carbonates and bicarbonates.

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Interglacial period

In climate history and geology alike, an interglacial period is a phase with higher mean temperatures, located between two periods with lower mean temperatures – ice ages.

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Interglacial period

A warm phase within an ice age is referred to as an interglacial period.

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IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

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isostatic

Isostatic refers to a situation in which the forces affecting a given region or object are so balanced that the system as a whole remains in equilibrium. For example, when sea ice grows and its thickness increases, it gradually rises above the water level so as to maintain isostatic equilibrium.

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