The Beaufort Sea High is a high-pressure system located in the Beaufort
Sea and influences ocean circulation in the western Arctic known as the
Beaufort Gyre. Wrangel Island, located in the western Chukchi Sea,
typically experiences easterly sea ice motion due to the Beaufort Gyre.
We find that under these climatological conditions, moving ice is
blocked by the island and piles up on its eastern side, while ice on its
western side continues to drift. This results in an ice thickness dipole
across the island. A reversal in the sense of the oceanic and
atmospheric circulation across the western Arctic results in a dipole
with the opposing sign. We find the dipole is present throughout the
year and is strongest in January when the ice thickness difference is
approximately 1m. During the spring, it is associated with the transient
opening of a polynya to the west of the island. The dipole is the result
of opposing ice divergence and convergence across the western Arctic and
may impact ocean circulation and ecosystems within the Chukchi Sea.