Abstract: Sea ice, which covers up to 7% of the planet's surface, is a major component of the world's oceans, partly driving ocean circulation and global climate patterns. It provides a habitat for a rich diversity of marine organisms, and is a valuable source of information in studies of global climate change and the evolution of present day life forms. Increasingly, sea ice is being used as a proxy for extraterrestrial ice covered systems.
Sea Ice provides a comprehensive review of our current available knowledge of polar pack ice, the study of which is severely constrained by the logistic difficulties of working in such harsh and remote regions of th
e earth. The book's editors, Drs Thomas and Dieckmann have drawn together an impressive group of international contributing authors, providing a well-edited and integrated volume, which will stand for many years as the standard work on the subject. Contents of the book include details of the growth, microstructure and properties of sea ice, large-scale variations in thickness and characteristics, its primary production, micro-and macrobiology, sea ice as a habitat for birds and mammals, sea ice biogeochemistry, particulate flux, and the distribution and significance of palaeo sea ice.