Antarctic landfast sea ice (fast ice) is stationary sea ice that is attached to the coast, grounded icebergs, ice shelves, or other protrusions on the continental shelf. Fast ice forms in narrow (generally up to 200 km wide) bands, and ranges in thickness from centimeters to tens of meters. In most regions, it forms in autumn, persists through the winter and melts in spring/summer, but can remain throughout the summer in particular locations, becoming multi-year ice. Despite its relatively limited extent (comprising between about 4% and 13% of overall sea ice), its presence, variability and seasonality are drivers of a wide range of physical, biological and biogeochemical processes, with both local and far-ranging ramifications for the Earth system. Antarctic fast ice has, until quite recently, been overlooked in studies, likely due to insufficient knowledge of its distribution, leading to its reputation as a “missing piece of the Antarctic puzzle.” This review presents a synthesis of current knowledge of the physical, biogeochemical and biological aspects of fast ice, based on the sub-domains of: fast ice growth, properties and seasonality; remote-sensing and distribution; interactions with the atmosphere and the ocean; biogeochemical interactions; its role in primary production; and fast ice as a habitat for grazers. Finally, we consider the potential state of Antarctic fast ice at the end of the 21st Century, underpinned by Coupled Model Intercomparison Project model projections. This review also gives recommendations for targeted future work to increase our understanding of this critically-important element of the global cryosphere.

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南极陆地海冰：物理学、生物地球化学和生态学综述

南极陆地固定海冰（固定冰）是附着在海岸、接地冰山、冰架或大陆架上其他突出物上的固定海冰。固定冰形成狭窄的带状（通常宽达 200 公里），厚度从几厘米到几十米不等。在大多数地区，它在秋季形成，持续整个冬季并在春季/夏季融化，但在特定地点可以整个夏季保留，成为多年冰。尽管其范围相对有限（约占整个海冰的 4% 至 13%），但其存在、变异性和季节性是广泛的物理、生物和生物地球化学过程的驱动因素，对当地和深远的影响地球系统。直到最近，南极固定冰在研究中一直被忽视，可能是由于对其分布了解不够，导致其被誉为“南极拼图中缺失的一块”。这篇综述基于以下子领域，综合了当前关于固定冰的物理、生物地球化学和生物学方面的知识：快速冰的生长、特性和季节性；遥感和分发；与大气和海洋的相互作用；生物地球化学相互作用；它在初级生产中的作用；和作为食草动物栖息地的坚冰。最后，我们在耦合模型比对项目模型预测的基础上考虑了 21 世纪末南极固定冰的潜在状态。本次审查还为未来有针对性的工作提出了建议，以增进我们对全球冰冻圈这一至关重要要素的了解。