As water reaches the temperature where it begins to crystallize and form ice, salt ions are rejected from the lattices within the ice and are either forced out into the surrounding water, or trapped among the ice crystals in pockets called brine cells. Generally, sea ice has a salinity ranging from 0 psu at the surface to 4 psu at the base. The faster that this freezing process occurs, the more brine cells are left in the ice. Once the ice reaches a critical thickness, roughly 15 cm, the concentration of salt ions in the liquid around the ice begins to increase, as leftover brine is rejected from the cells. This increase is associated with the appearance of strong convective plumes, which flow from channels and within the ice and carry a significant salt flux. The brine that drains from the newly-formed ice is replaced by a weak flow of relatively fresh water from the liquid region below it. The new water partially freezes within the pores of the ice, increasing the solidity of the ice.
As sea ice ages and thickens, the initial salinity of the ice decreases due to the rejection of brine over time. While the sea ice ages, desalinization occurs to such a degree that some multiyear ice has a salinity of less than 1 PSU. This occurs in three different ways:
*solute diffusion: this depends on the fact that brine inclusions trapped in ice will begin to migrate toward the warmer end of the ice block. The ice block is warmest at the water-ice interface, thus pushing the brine out into the water surrounding the ice.
*gravity drainage: gravity drainage involves the movement of brine due to differences in density between brine in the interior of the ice and brine in the seawater outside of the ice, which occurs due to the development of a buoyancy-driven convection system.
*expulsion: the migration of brine due to cracking produced by thermal expansion of the ice, or pressure caused by the increased volume of the newly formed ice.