polynya

One recent UAV mission in Antarctica examined a polar ocean feature called a polynya, which is an area of open ocean surrounded on all sides by either a coast, sea ice, or both.

Livescience.com 2009

A polynya is a large area of open water surrounded by sea ice that is found in the same region year after year.

Arctic Ocean 2008

Third: if the polynya was a freak occurence then you wouldn’t expect to see the Beaufort frozen over on July 25th every year. 2006 was just an accident.

AGU Fall Meeting « Climate Audit 2006

The goal was to map water conditions in the Ross Sea "polynya," a region of open water surrounded by sea ice, where the plankton blooms every Antarctic summer.

Research robots roam the Ross Sea 2011

Reprogrammed to deal with the unexpectedly strong current, the first seaglider also made its way from the whale breathing hole to the polynya region.

Research robots roam the Ross Sea 2011

Beating back against the ocean current by tacking like a sailboat, GOE-3 made its way into the polynya to perform its mapping mission.

Research robots roam the Ross Sea 2011

In the St. Lawrence Island polynya region, changes in regional oceanography due to the position or size of the Gulf of Anadyr gyre are ultimately related to the northward transport of water through the Bering Strait, and to the geostrophic balance within the Arctic Ocean basin.

Past variability in Arctic marine systems 2009

However, it is possible that an enhanced and more energetic polynya could result from warming.

Past variability in Arctic marine systems 2009

The Gulf of Anadyr "cold pool" is maintained by sea-ice production and brine formation in the St. Lawrence Island polynya.

Past variability in Arctic marine systems 2009

Sea-ice production in the source region in winter is enhanced within a polynya (the North Water) formed by the persistent southward drift of ice.

Marine Arctic 2009