When scientists talk about the cryosphere, they mean the places on Earth where water is in its solid form, frozen into ice or snow. Read more ...
Cryosphere Glossary
flooded sea ice
ice that is pushed into the underlying ocean water by the weight of thick snow cover on its surface; the salty ocean water floods the snow cover and creates a salty, slushy layer; flooded sea ice is more common in the antarctic because of more snowfall and thinner sea ice than in the arctic.
(Photo courtesy of Ted Maksym, Unites States Naval Academy.)