Fast ice characteristics, with special reference to the eastern Canadian Arctic

Abstract

Arctic sea ice is currently receiving increasing attention, both in relation to technological problems associated with resources development and shipping (Walker and Penney, 1973), and to basic research questions. The polar pack ice in the Beaufort Sea, for example, is the focus of the Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX) (Untersteiner, 1974), while an analysis of physical links between the characteristics of polar surfaces and climate is to be the crux of the United States contribution to the Polar Experiment (POLEX) (Weller and Bierly, 1973; National Academy of Sciences, 1974). A general discussion of sea ice, with emphasis on pack ice, has been presented recently by Wittman and Burkhart (1973), but another aspect of the sea ice regime deserving separate attention, particularly in the light of Arctic offshore oil developments, is the landfast or fast ice, ie that part of the sea ice which remains attached to the shore (see “Sea ice terminology”). This paper attempts to provide a broad picture of fast ice characteristics in the context of our field experience in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

East–west asymmetry in long-term trends of landfast ice thickness in the Hudson Bay region, Canada

“…The sensitivity of ice thickness to snow depth is well documented (Jacobs et al 1975, Brown & Cote 1992, Flato & Brown 1996. Winters with high snow accumulation are associated with low ice thickness, because the snow cover insulates the ice surface, reducing heat conduction and thereby ice growth (Flato & Brown 1998).…”

Synoptic controls on the energy budget regime of an ablating fast ice surface

“…In western Davis Strait, a sheet of land-fast ice forms in early winter and by spring extends, in places for over 50 km seaward [9]. Generally the ice melts and disappears in middle to late summer, although in some cases, as occurred in 1972, the fast ice can persist through the summer and into the following winter.…”

The shaping of climate science: half a century in personal perspective

“…I changed John Jacobs' career when I discovered that he had overwintered at Vostok in the Antarctic and entrained him into our program. Jacobs's and Weaver's interest in sea ice led to work on land-fast ice at Broughton in Home Bay (Jacobs et al, 1975;Weaver et al, 1976). Based at Cape Dyer, Jacobs and I used an NCAR QueenAir aircraft to study sea ice in Davis Strait during spring 1971.…”