Arctic sea ice recedes and it is more exposed to waves. Waves can then fracture continuous pack ice into floes, which are more mobile and easier to melt. The fracture process itself is not well understood, because of harsh field conditions. In a recent preprint submitted to EGUsphere, Nicolas Mokus et al. propose a novel sea ice fracture criterion incorporated into a numerical model that simulates wave propagation. This criterion can be compared to existing ones. They compare their results to laboratory experiments, and find qualitative agreement.
