Editing Polynya (section)

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{{Short description|Area of unfrozen sea within an ice pack}}
[[File:Antarctic shelf ice hg.png|thumb|Coastal polynyas are produced in the Antarctic by [[katabatic winds]]]]
[[File:Sea ice by fruchtzwerg's world.jpg|thumb|Katabatic wind spilling off an ice shelf|upright]]
[[File:Frosty Arctic condensation plume (40590398313).jpg|thumb|A frosty Arctic condensation plume marks this polynya near the west shore of [[Hudson Bay]]. This one (and others nearby) are likely kept open by tidal currents. Mile-high west-facing aerial view.]]

A '''polynya''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|l|ɪ|n|j|ə}}) is an area of open water surrounded by [[sea ice]].<ref>W.J. Stringer and J.E. Groves. 1991. [http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic44-S-164.pdf ''Extent of Polynyas in the Bering and Chukchi Seas'']</ref> It is now used as a geographical term for an area of unfrozen seawater within otherwise contiguous [[pack ice]] or [[fast ice]]. It is a [[loanword]] from the [[Russian language|Russian]] {{lang|ru|полынья}} ({{IPA|ru|pəɫɨˈnʲja}}), which refers to a natural ice hole and was adopted in the 19th century by polar explorers to describe navigable portions of the sea.<ref>Sherard Osborn, Peter Wells and A. Petermann. 1866. ''Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australia'', Vol 12 no 2 1867–1868 pp 92–113 [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1799584 On the Exploration of the North Polar Region]</ref><ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polynya?show=0&t=1283765336 polynya], Merriam Webster Dictionary</ref>

There are two main types of polynyas: coastal polynyas, which can be found year-round near the [[Antarctic]] and [[Arctic]] coasts and are mainly created by strong winds pushing the ice away from the coast, and mid-sea or open-ocean polynyas, which may be found more sporadically in the middle of ice pack in certain locations, especially around Antarctica. These locations are generally preconditioned by certain oceanic dynamics.

One of the most famous mid-sea polynyas is the [[Weddell Polynya]], also known as the Maud Rise Polynya,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Francis|first1=Diana|last2=Eayrs|first2=Clare|last3=Cuesta|first3=Juan|last4=Holland|first4=David|date=2019|title=Polar Cyclones at the Origin of the Reoccurrence of the Maud Rise Polynya in Austral Winter 2017|url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019JD030618|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres|language=en|volume=124|issue=10|pages=5251–5267|doi=10.1029/2019JD030618|bibcode=2019JGRD..124.5251F|s2cid=149497432|issn=2169-8996}}</ref> which occurs in the [[Lazarev Sea]] over the Maud Rise seamount. It was first spotted in September 1973, persisted through multiple winters (1974–1976), and recently recurred in September 2017.<ref>[http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/ANTARCTIC/weddell_polynya.html Weddell Polynya], NASA, 1999</ref>