Hi, Burnrate, and welcome to the ASIF.
First of all, those ACNFS sea ice thickness images you link to aren't entirely reliable because the model has been
experiencing problems this melting season.
Nevertheless, what has been happening to the ice north of the western part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (no detachment of the ice pack off Greenland, I'd say) is interesting, but not unprecedented. It's comparable to 2008 and 2011 (see this
comparison of sea ice concentration maps). Still, the ice is very, very dispersed just east of M'Clure Strait (the western entrance/exit of the Northwest Passage), although it's hard to tell because of all the clouds:
What could the cause be (intense melt, change in arctic ocean currents or wind currents, both/other)? Also, what kind of impacts might this have?
The causes in my opinion are heavy melting because of persistent high temperatures in this region, but also a lack of compaction because winds have hardly been blowing towards the coast
for weeks on end now. And there are now even heavy winds blowing the ice further away from the coast. We'll have to wait and see how things are going to end up.
It seems like it might let the ice cap be 'unanchored' from the coast of greenland and islands to the west during next year's melt (or maybe later). Would that make the ice cap much more susceptible to break up from weather and waves on all sides as well as more affected by currents.
I don't think the entire ice pack will be 'unanchored' (something I also speculated about frequently when first starting to watch the ice). And even if it is, it will be pushed back again during winter, crushing the thin ice that will form over the open waters.
I'm guessing this occurrence is inevitable at this point but how much will the accelerate/impact/influence future melt seasons?
Good question. The multi-year ice that is in this 'safe heaven' or 'oldest ice region' could be heavily damaged. If it is then transported into the Beaufort Sea over winter, it will easily melt out next melting season, even under average weather conditions. On the other hand a lot of heat in the water might be released, making the water colder, and as said the ice that forms will be crushed by the ice pack getting pushed back again, causing ridging, etc.
It's difficult to tell what the effect will be.
