A study--by capt. francis t.

gauci

Ice
is found at high latitudes
in both hemispheres but
because of their
physical dissimilarities
the climatic and ice regimes
of the Arctic and Antarctic regions
differ greatly.

Arctic Region :
is confined to sea areas
off E and W coasts of Greenland
and
off eastern seaboard of Canada
remains completely covered by pack ice
throughout the year

Arctic Ocean ice

Arctic Ice

Arctic Basin :
is an area of ocean 3000m deep
covered by 3.5m ice thick
annual mean temp. at N.P. -20deg C
lowest recorded in Arctic Basin -50deg C
Antarctica :
has an ice-cap up to 3000m tick
annual mean temp. at S.P. -49deg C
lowest recorded -88.3deg C

Antarctica Region :
ice-cap covering Antarctica constitutes 90%
of the permanent ice of earth
the ice constituting the ice-cap moves towards the coasts
the icebergs form from glaciers and ice-shelves
the icebergs are found in a wide belt
surrounding the continent
the greater part of pack ice surrounding this region
melts each summer
this region is at a lower latitude than its arctic counterpart

Reference :
Sea Ice Nomenclature : WMO 1970
Marines Observers Handbook
The Mariners handbook NP 100

Classification of Ice :
Sea Ice : freezing of sea water
Icebergs : fresh water
River Ice : fresh water

Formation of Ice :
Fresh water and salt water
do not freeze in the same manner.
Salinity is measured in parts/1000
where there is discharge of river water,
salinity is much less
the Baltic sea is 10/1000 through the year

Freezing process :
lowering of freezing temp.
salinity effects
density of water

Fresh water :
Cooling from surface
Lowering of temp.
Maximum density at 4deg C
If a body of fresh water is cooled to 4deg C throughout
its depth, convection ceases.

Salt water :
Delay in lowering of temp. to freezing temp.
is much more prolonged.
Example : off SW Svalbald -- convection prevents
formation of ice throughout winter due to deep warm water
(despite very low air temp.)

Maximum density of sea water

of average salinity occurs at
temp. below freezing point.

Refer to following slide.

mcast

 water with salinity < 24.7 parts/1000 has

maximum density reached before freezing temp.
Water with salinity > 24.7 parts/1000 has
its freezing point reached before density attains
the theoretical maximum value.

The greatest delay in reaching the freezing temp.

occurs when the sea water is initially at an
almost uniform density,
throughout its depth.

At a temp. between
3deg C and freezing,
variations in density are more dependent
on variations of salinity
than on changes in temp.

In Arctic Basin :
Salinity discontinuity between the surface layer
(Arctic Water) and
the underlying more saline Atlantic water.
Cooling of the surface water around the periphery of Basin,
and within regions of open waters,
leads to convection in a shallow layer which
may extend to only 50 m in depth.

First indication of ICE :

appearance of ice spicules or plates
(maximum dimension up to 2.5cm)
in the top few centimeters of water.
FRAZIL ICE : forms in large quantities
and give the sea an oily appearance.
As cooling continues the frazil crystals coalesce
to form GREASE ICE which has a matt appearance.

Under near freezing, but as yet ice-free conditions,

snow falling on the surface and forming SLUSH
may induce the sea surface to form a layer of ice.
These forms may break up under the action of wind
and waves to form SHUGA.
NEW ICE :
FRAZIL ICE_GREASE ICE_SLUSH_SHUGA

NEW ICE :
FRAZIL ICE
_GREASE ICE
_ SLUSH
_

SHUGA

Melt pools developing as ice recedes during summer.

Coast from Murmansk to Bearing Sea.

With further cooling :

sheets of ICE RIND or NILAS are formed,
depending on the rate of cooling
and on the salinity of the water.
ICE RIND is formed when water of
low salinity freezes slowly,
resulting in a thin layer of ice
which is almost free of salt.

When water of high salinity freezes,

especially if the process is rapid,
the ice contains pockets of salt water,
giving it an elastic property
which is characteristic of NILAS
NILAS : }

dark NILAS : < 5cm thick

light NILAS : > 5-10cm thick

Young ICE :
action of wind and waves may break up
ice rind and nilas into
PANCAKE ICE
which later freezes together and thickens
into GREY ICE
and GREY_WHITE ICE
the latter attaining thickness up to 30cm.

YOUNG ICE :
PANCAKE ICE
_GREY ICE
_GREY-WHITE ICE
rough weather may break this ice up into
ICE CAKES or FLOES

Pancake ice Bearing Sea

Young ice Kara Sea

Ice floe North Bearing Sea

Collecting fresh water

Next stage of development :

FIRST-YEAR ICE
thin
medium 70-120cm thick
thick
up to 2m by end of winter

First year ice Bearing Sea

Should the first year ice survive

the summer melting season
(example : Arctic Basin)
it is designated as
SECOND_YEAR_ICE
at the onset of the next winter.

Subsequent persistence through summer melts

warrants the description MULTI_YEAR_ICE
which, after several years,
attains a maximum thickness of 3.5m
(when accretion of ice in winter balances
the loss due to melting in summer)

The buoyancy of level sea ice is such that

approximates (1/7)
of the total thickness floats above the water.
Ice increases in thickness from below
as the sea water freezes on the undersurface of the ice.
The rate of increase is determined by
the severity of the frost and by its duration.

Accumulated frost degree-days

is the total of daily mean air temps.,
below 0deg C,
summed over the period of frost
--refer to the following graph--

As ice becomes thicker,

the rate of increase in thickness
diminishes, due to the insulating effect of the ice
(and its overlying snow cover)
EXTREME CONDITIONS :
temp. -30 to -40 deg C
thickness 10cm in 24 hours
thickness 18cm in 48 hours.

Antarctic Region (more than the Arctic)

(i) when snow cover (> 50cm)
weight of snow may depress
the original ice layer below sea level
so that snow becomes water-logged.
In winter the wet snow gradually freezes,
thus increasing the depth of the ice layer.

Antarctic Region :
(ii) the super-cooling of water
as it flows under the deep ice shelves,
typical of Antarctic coastline.
The super-cooled water is prevented from
freezing by pressure at this depth.
The flow of water under the ice shelves
is often vigorous, the consequent turbulence
resulting in some of the super-cooled water
rising towards the surface
as it leaves the vicinity of the ice-shelve..

the consequent
reduction of pressure
may lead to the rapid formation
of frazil ice
in the near surface water.
The same mechanism can result in
the accumulation of a
relatively deep layer
of porous ice
beneath an original ice layer.

Example :
Recently broken fast ice over 4m thick
encountered on the approaches to
Enderby Land in the southern autumn (March)
was observed to consist of
only 30cm of solid ice
and 4m of porous ice,
the whole layer offering
little resistance to forward progress.
(an effect almost entirely confined to
the fast-ice zone)

Small bergy bits

Broken fast ice

Edge of pack ice

Edge of pack ice

Ice floes North Bearing Sea

Pancake ice Antarctica

Ice and fog

Glacier Alaska

Sea ice Tigvariak Island

Sea ice hummock

Glacier

Young ice Kara Sea

Winter sea-ice Beaufort Sea

Ice breaker at anchor

Ice breaker at anchor side view

Side view

Front view

The underside of ice is revealed in this rare glimpse from below,

showing yellowish clouds of algae illuminated by stabs of sunlight.

Arctic Pack
The Arctic pack, which averages 3 to 6
m (10 to 20 ft) thick during winter,
circles the Arctic Ocean in a clockwise
direction. Most floes stay in the Arctic
Ocean for 5 or more years, but they
eventually escape, mainly between
Spitzbergen and Greenland, and may
float as far south as Iceland before
completely melting away.
In certain places in the Arctic pack, the
jamming and crushing of floes form
pressure ridges and hummocks that
may rise 5 m (16 ft) or more above the
general level of the pack. Irregular

Pack ice, made of frozen salt water, is

composed of pieces of ice of various shapes,
sizes, and ages that are free to drift under the
influence of winds and ocean currents. An
individual piece of ice in the pack is called a floe
and can vary from a few meters to more than 10
km (several feet to more than 6 mi) in length.
The two largest areas of pack ice are in and near
the Arctic Ocean and in the Antarctic region.

Antarctic Pack
The Antarctic pack entirely surrounds
the Antarctic continent at the end of
winter and may extend for several
hundred kilometers north of the coast.
Its edge advances northward during the
winter months and retreats southward
during the summer. The Antarctic pack is
1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft) thick, and the
individual floes are 1 or 2 years old.

An iceberg is a large piece of ice that

has "calved" (broken off) from the
terminus of a glacier (see glaciers and
glaciation) into a body of water. Most
icebergs are found in the ocean, but all
are composed of freshwater ice. They are
usually white, blue, or green, although
some are black because of rock material
they contain.

The glaciers of Antarctica and Greenland

are the sources of most icebergs. The largest
icebergs are found in Antarctica. The U.S.
Coast Guard icebreaker Glacier measured one
that was 333 km (208 mi) long and 96 km (60
mi) wide. They may extend downward 300 m
(1,000 ft) and reach a height of more than 60
m (200 ft). On the average, 6/7 of the volume
of an Arctic iceberg and 4/5 of icebergs of
Antarctic origin are submerged. The degree of
submergence depends on the density, rock
content, and shape of the iceberg.

Glacier melting

On Apr. 14, l912, the Titanic, then the largest

ship in the world, ran into a small iceberg on her
maiden voyage across the Atlantic and sank, resulting
in the deaths of 1,503 people. During World War II the
Allies considered anchoring a flat- topped Antarctic
iceberg in the Atlantic to serve as a landing field for
planes involved in submarine warfare. Several nations
have set up research stations on floating icebergs
(see, for example, Fletcher's Ice Island). Serious
thought has been given to the possibility both of
harvesting ice from icebergs and of shipping whole
icebergs to arid countries for use as a source of fresh
water.

An icebreaker is a vessel used for

clearing a passage through ice-bound waters.
The earliest such vessels were used on
Russia's Lake Baikal and on the Baltic Sea.
One of the first and most successful
icebreakers was the Ermak, built for the
Russian government and launched on the
River Tyne in England in 1898. The vessel had
a steel hull and an enormously strengthened
bow, built with a very gradual slope upward
from below so that the ship could ride up
onto the ice and use its weight to break in
from above. Most present-day icebreakers
use the same type of bow construction; many
of them are also equipped with a bubbler
system that pumps a layer of frictionreducing air between the hull and the ice.

The USSR long held the lead in icebreaker

technology, with a fleet of more than 50 ships and
tugs in the 1980s. The Soviet icebreaker Lenin,
commissioned in 1959, was the world's first
nuclear-powered surface ship. The Arktika (1977)
was the first surface vessel to navigate passage to
the North Pole, traveling from Murmansk across the
Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. The last
generation of Soviet nuclear icebreakersthe result
of a joint Finnish-Soviet design effort in the late
1980swere two shallow-draught ships, built to
clear ice in the river estuaries of the Baltic.
(Nuclear icebreakers can operate up to
three years without refueling.)

Finland designs many of the world's icebreakers,

including such advanced vessels as Australia's
Aurora Australis (1990), which sails Antarctic
oceans on research expeditions. The United States
operates a small number of icebreakers, primarily
on the Great Lakes and on northern rivers and
harbors. The two U.S. Polar Class icebreakersone
of which traversed the Northwest Passage in
1985also function as research vessels in Arctic
and Antarctic waters. In 1994 a joint U.S.Canadian icebreaker expedition traversed the
Arctic from west to east for the first time and
became the first North American surface ships to
reach the North Pole.

Working North in Winter months

is dangerous
because of the chance of
your vessel icing up
because of ice accretion

There are several reasons for ice accretion, these are;

(1) Spray hitting the vessel with the air temperature
being at least minus 2degrees.
(2) Fog freezing on the structure of your vessel.
(3) Rain Freezing on the structure of your vessel.
(4) Seas entering your vessel and freezing up.
(5) Fresh water leaking or being discharged from
a pipe on your vessel.

If your vessel starts to ice up through ice accretion then

do the following;
(1) Turn the vessel around and head South
toward a warmer climate.
(2) Minimise the spray coming onto your vessel
by slowing your vessel down
(3) If your vessel is listing to starboard,
then take the ice off the port side first,
you'll give your vessel a bigger list,
but the centre of buoyancy will move out also and
thus you will have a bigger righting lever.

The Law states

if you encounter ice accretion
on your vessel
that was not issued with the shipping forecast,
you must;
(1)Inform all ships in the area
(2) Contact the Coastguard

Never ever take chances with ice accretion,

this can and will severely affect
your vessels stability,
vessels have capsized because
of the ANGLE OF LOLL effect
that ice accretion has on the vessel,
the vessel will become top heavy
as the Centre of Gravity nears/meets of
goes above the Metacentre.
(The vessel with have an
UNSTABLE EQUILIBRIUM).

Ice accretion aboard the research ship in the Arctic Ocean

Sea Ice ..A

Sea Ice is divided into two main types according to its mobility.
One is PACK ICE, which is reasonably free to move under
the action of the wind and current.
The other is FAST ICE which does not move. Ice first forms
near the coast and spreads seawards. A certain width of fairly
level ice, depending on the depth of the water, becomes fast
to the coastline and is immobile.The outer edge of the fast ice
is often located in the vicinity of the 25-metre contour.
A reason for this is that well-hummocked and ridged ice may
ground in these depths and so form off-shore anchor points
for the new seasons ice to become fast.

Sea Ice ..B

Beyond this ice lies the pack ice which has formed, to a small
but important extent,from pieces of ice which have broken
off from the fast ice. As these spread seawards they, together
with any remaining old floes, facilitate the formation of NEW,
and later YOUNG ICE in the open sea.
This ice , as it thickens, is constantly broken up by the wind
and waves so that the pack ice consists of ice of all sizes and
ages from giant floes of several years growth to the several
forms of new ice whose life may be measured in hours.

Deformation of IceA
Under the action of wind, current and internal stress
the pack ice is constantly in motion.
Where the ice is subjected to pressure its surface
becomes DEFORMED.
In the new and young ice this may result in RAFTING
as an ice sheet overrides its neighbor.
In thicker ice it leads to the formation of
RIDGES and HUMMOCKS according to the pattern
and strength of the convergent forces.

Deformation of IceB
During the process of ridging and hummocking,
when large pieces of ice are piled up above the general
ice level, vast quantities of ice are forced downward to
support the weight of ice in the ridge or hummock.
The downward extension of ice below a ridge is
known as an ICE KEEL, and that below a hummock is
called a BUMMOCK.
The total vertical dimensions of these features may reach
55 metres, approximately 10 metres showing
above the sea level.
In shallow water ice floes piled up against the coastline
may reach 15 metres above mean sea level.

Deformation of IceC
CRACKS, LEADS and
POLYNYAS (open areas within an ice field)
may form after pressure within the ice has been relaxed.
When these openings occur in winter they rapidly
become covered by new and young ice which, given
sufficient time, will thicken into first-year ice and
cement the older floes together.
Before the first year stage is reached, the younger ice
is subjected to pressure as the older floes move together,
resulting in the deformation features already described.

Deformation of IceD
Off-shore winds drive the pack ice away from the coastline
and open up a SHORE LEAD, which is a navigable passage
between the main body of the pack ice , and the shore.
In some regions where off-shore winds persist through the
ice season, localized movement of shipping may be possible
for much of the winter.
Where there is fast ice against the shore, off-shore winds
develop a lead at the boundary, or FLAW as it is known,
between the fast ice and the pack ice: this opening is called a
FLAW LEAD.

Deformation of IceE
In both types of lead, new-ice formation will be
considerably impeded or even prevented if the offshore winds are strong.
On most occasions new and young ice forms in the leads
and when winds become on-shore the re-frozen lead closes up
and the younger ice is completely deformed.
For this reason the flaw and the coast, especially when
the on-shore winds prevail, are usually marked by tortuous
ice conditions.

Ridges Polynya

Sea Ice hummock

Winter sea ice Beaufort Sea

Clearance of Ice..A
The clearance of ice in summer may occur in two different ways.
The first, applicable to pack ice only, is the direct removal
of the ice by the wind or current.
The second method is by melting in situ which may be
achieved in several ways.
Wind plays a part in that where the ice is well broken wave action
will cause a considerable amount of melting even if the sea
temperature is a little above the freezing point.
Where pack ice is not well broken or where there is fast ice,
the melting process is dependent on the incoming radiation.

Clearance of Ice..B
In the Arctic in winter the ice becomes covered with snow
to a depth of about 30 to 60 centimeters.
While this snow cover persists, almost 90% of the
incoming radiation is reflected back to space.
Eventually the snow begins to melt as air temperatures rise
above 0deg C in early summer and the resulting fresh water
forms puddles on the surface.
These puddles absorb about 60% of the incoming radiation
and rapidly warm up, steadily enlarging as they melt the
surrounding snow and, later, the ice.

Clearance of Ice..C
Eventually the fresh water runs off or through the ice
floe and , where the concentration of the pack ice is high,
it will settle between the ice floe and the underlying sea water.
At this stage the temp. of the sea water will still be below
0deg C so that the fresh water freezes onto the undersurface of
the ice, thus temporarily reducing the melting rate.
Meanwhile as the temp. within the ice rises,
the ice becomes riddled with brine pockets.
It is considerably weakened and offers little resistance to
the destructive action of wind and waves.

Clearance of Ice..D
At this stage the fast ice fast breaks into pack ice and
eventually the ice floes,
when they reach an advanced stage of decay,
break into small pieces called BRASH ICE,
the last stage before melting is complete.
Wind, waves, and rising temperatures combine
to clear the ice from areas which are affected
by first-year ice.

Spring melting ice

Clearance of Ice..E
The breakup of fast ice by paddling seems to be
limited to the Arctic region;
it has not been observed in the Antarctic where snow
depths are usually greater (i.e. 50cm-1m.)

in the Antarctic,
(i) due to the presence of the surrounding
turbulent ocean, the fast ice is more often broken up by
the action of ocean swell,
particularly after the pack ice has been removed by the
off-shore winds which prevail in the region.
(ii) presence of diatoms in the lower layers of the fast ice.

Movement of Ice..A
pack ice moves under the influence of wind and current
fast ice stays immobile
the wind stress on the pack ice causes the floes to move
in a downwind direction
Coriolis force causes the floe to deviate
the ice movement due to wind drift is approximately
parallel to the isobars
the speed of movement, due to wind drift, varies not
only with the wind speed but also with the concentration
of pack ice and the degree of ridging.

Movement of Ice..B
in very open pack ice there is much more freedom
to respond to the wind than in close pack ice where
free space is very limited.
wind-drift factor is the ratio of the ice drift to
geostrophic wind speed.
The total movement of pack ice is the resultant of
wind-drift component and current component.
Since most of the ice is immersed in the sea
it will move at full current rate except in narrow channels.
Ice movement will be considerable, if wind blows in
same direction as current.
(exampleGreenland Sea, Barents Sea off Labrador)

Ice at the Ice Edge

When wind blows from the open sea on to the pack ice,
it compacts the floes into higher concentrations
along the ice edge.
When the wind blows off the ice , the floes move out into
the open sea at varying rates, depending on there :
roughness and age

Prevailing surface currents in the Arctic Ocean and north-eastern parts of the
Atlantic Ocean. The circulation to the north of Alaska is known as the
Beaufort Sea Gyre. The dotted lines indicate mixed water.

Movement of Pack Ice in the Antarctic

The action of wind and current around the coast of
Antarctica imparts a northerly component to the
movement of pack ice so that it eventually carried
into warmer waters of the Southern Ocean Current where it melts.
The pack ice of this hemisphere is therefor mainly first-year ice.
It is only in a few areas, ex. Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas,
where the action of the wind carries the ice on to the coasts,
and second and multi-year ice is commonly found.

Ice Bergs
Antarctica

Iceberg

Iceberg Beaufort Sea

Ice flow North Bearing Sea

Open Ice

Wave cut Antarctic Berg