AKIPRESS.COM - Ocean waves do far more to break up sea ice than previously believed, according to a new study.

New Zealand researchers deployed five sensors on Antarctic ice floes from about 10 miles to 80 miles from the edge of the ice, reports Live Science.

“Every three hours, the instruments simultaneously woke and measured the waves,” said lead study author Alison Kohout, a scientist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in Christchurch, New Zealand. “The data was sent back to us via satellite transmissions.”

The frozen sea water floats on the ocean after forming on the water, making it different from ice shelves which flow from the land to the ocean.

Sea ice covers an estimated 10 million square miles of our planet. The researchers say this is not related to global warming. “Sea ice melts and grows annually and is unrelated to sea-level rise,” Kohout said. “Sea ice is sometimes confused with ice shelves, which are related to sea level rise.”