polynia

plural polynias

1. alternativeAlternative spelling of polynya.

   Dr. [Ian] Stirling pointed out that colonies of nesting sea-birds were an indicator of permanent polynias and that the productivity studies in such polynias might prove interesting.

   1980, “Summary of the Meeting”, in Polar Bears: […], Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, →ISBN, paragraph 9, page 23

   1 more example

   We immediately ascended a hill, and saw that the supposed land was nothing but hummocks of ice, piled up beyond a large Polynia, or space of open water, which extended from east to west, as far as the eye could reach.

   1844, Ferdinand von Wrangell [i.e., Ferdinand von Wrangel], chapter V, in Edward Sabine, editor, Narrative of an Expedition to the Polar Sea, in the Years 1820, 1821, 1822 & 1823. […], 2nd edition, London: James Madden and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 102–103