This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information.

Environment

Geography word of the week: Polynya

  • Nov 17, 2015
  • 157 words
  • 1 minutes
Expand Image
Advertisement

Polynya

[puh-lin-yuh]

Definition:
An area of largely unfrozen ocean surrounded by sea ice. Polynyas can be formed in several ways. Latent-heat polynyas form when wind and currents push ice away from a coastline or a mass of fixed ice. Sensible-heat polynyas form when relatively warm water upwells from the ocean’s lower depths to the surface, slowing or preventing the formation of ice. In some cases, a combination of the two processes forms a polynya.

Origin:
Russian, mid 19th-century
From pol meaning empty or open

Example:
The North Water polynya, located high in northern Baffin Bay between Ellesmere Island and Greenland, is the size of Lake Superior and the largest polynya in the northern hemisphere. It begins to form in September and October and reaches its maximum size of 85,000 square kilometers in July. By August, it’s indistinguishable from the rest of Baffin Bay, which at that point is mostly ice-free.

Advertisement

Are you passionate about Canadian geography?

You can support Canadian Geographic in 3 ways:

Related Content

Climate strike Victoria BC

Environment

Why Canada should recognize its citizens’ environmental rights

David Boyd, a Canadian environmental lawyer and UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, reveals how recognizing the human right to a healthy environment can spur positive action for the planet

  • 1444 words
  • 6 minutes

Kids

Meet the 2015 Canadian Geographic Challenge participants

The Canadian Geographic Challenge, now in its 20th anniversary year, will bring 20 young…

  • 1691 words
  • 7 minutes

Environment

Canada officially recognizes the right to a healthy environment

The Canadian federal law regulating toxic substances has been updated for the first time in more than two decades

  • 1074 words
  • 5 minutes

People & Culture

Kahkiihtwaam ee-pee-kiiweehtataahk: Bringing it back home again

The story of how a critically endangered Indigenous language can be saved

  • 6310 words
  • 26 minutes