Ice floes are constantly drifting, melting or freezing, and interacting with other floes. This makes sea ice a very dynamic phenomenon. Dynamic processes are characterized by continuous change and activity. Static phenomena, on the other hand, exhibit no motion or change.
Sea ice is a phenomenon that is dynamic on a variety of scales.
It is constantly changing on scales ranging from the microscopic to the large-scale drifts that can span thousands of kilometers. The dynamic nature of sea ice can be explored within different scales of size and time. The properties and behavior of sea ice can be analyzed and understood by observing it up close under magnification and also from afar. To best understand the phenomenon, it must be observed at different scales as well as at various time intervals. These refer to variations in size, or 'space' that the phenomena occupies during observation, and are therefore termed spatial scales.