If a buoyant plume of diameter supplies oil at volume rate to an ice floe moving at speed , the plume sweeps area per unit time. Retaining a layer of depth over that area would require volume rate , so conservation of mass gives the painted fraction . Discontinuous painting starts when . This estimate assumes all arriving oil is retained and a constant track width equal to the plume diameter; the plume's circular cross-sectional area does not enter the swept-area rate.

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