Quentin Kriaa, IEEF

Melting and self-insulation of floating ice fragments

I present idealised laboratory experiments investigating the melting of a floating ice block in saline water driven by natural convection. Using blocks of varying geometry – spherical and cylindrical – in both open and confined configurations, and allowing the block to be either freely moving or fixed, I explore how salinity, geometry, and confinement control melt rates, local circulation, and the emergence of morphological instabilities at the ice-water interface. The results reveal distinct convective regimes, from well-mixed conditions to stratified environments where the ice partially self-insulates, isolating the physical mechanisms at play for a single block, as a stepping stone towards understanding ensembles of interacting floating ice fragments.