They play an important role in the formation of new sea ice and deep water. (sciencedaily.com)
A large sector of what was remotely sensed to be multi-year sea ice at 7 to 9 + tenths ice cover, consisting primarily of multy - year ice floes, was in fact a surface of heavily decayed ice composed of some small multi-year floes (1 tenth) interspersed in a cover dominated by heavily decayed first - year floes (1 tenths) and overlain by new sea ice in areas of negative freeboard and in open water between floes. (searcharcticscience.org)
In autumn new sea ice forms there, and is gradually pushed northwards into open waters by the wind. (sciencedaily.com)