Second try. The forum software decided I had typed enough and "auto-posted" me.
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I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that there is a temptation to correlate thickness with age, when no such correlation exists. I think that assumption used to be valid, but the ice is now much thinner, weaker and mobile.
As such, is it very susceptible to bunching, ridging and just generally piling up, particularly along the CAA.
Because the ice is much more fragmented now at this time, it looks like the thickness is an indication of ice movement seen in the past, but much later in the season.
For example, if you look at the increased thickness on the AO side of Fram Strait, it looks like everybody is crowding in line, waiting for their express ride down to Newfoundland.
Of course that could all be dead wrong. It's been known to happen before...