Crossword clues for drift ice
drift ice
Wiktionary
n. One or more floating slabs of ice which have become detached from larger sheets or shoreline glaciers and which are moved by wind or sea currents.
WordNet
n. masses of ice floating in the open sea
Wikipedia
Drift ice is any sea ice other than fast ice, the latter being attached ("fastened") to the shoreline or other fixed objects (shoals, grounded icebergs, etc.). Drift ice is carried along by winds and sea currents, hence its name. When drift ice is driven together into a large single mass (>70% coverage), it is called pack ice. Wind and currents can pile up that ice to form ridges up to several metres in height. These represent a challenge for icebreakers and offshore structures operating in cold oceans and seas.
Drift ice consists of floes, individual pieces of sea ice or more across. There are names for various floe sizes: small – to ; medium – to ; big – to ; vast – to ; and giant – more than .
Seasonal ice drift in the Sea of Okhotsk by the northern coast of Hokkaidō, Japan has become a tourist attraction of this area with harsh climate, and is one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan. The Sea of Okhotsk is the southernmost area in the Northern hemisphere where drift ice may be observed.
Drift ice affects:
- Security of navigation
- Climatic impact (see Polar ice packs)
- Geological impact
- Biosphere influence (see Ecology of sea ice)
The two major ice packs are the Arctic ice pack and the Antarctic ice pack. The most important areas of pack ice are the polar ice packs formed from seawater in the Earth's polar regions: the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean. Polar packs significantly change their size during seasonal changes of the year. Because of vast amounts of water added to or removed from the oceans and atmosphere, the behavior of polar ice packs has a significant impact on global changes in climate.
Icebreaker Kontio assisting merchant vessel in pack ice in the northern Baltic sea. In this photo the Kontio has become stuck in drift ice while towing a cargo ship.
Ice floes / pack ice
Satellite image of drift ice in the Arctic Ocean around Wrangel Island
Usage examples of "drift ice".
I had to know, I had to know, and if I had to find out by covering whatever miles lay between me and Drift Ice Station Zebra on my hands and knees, then I would do just that.
One side of the plane was already thickly sheeted in drift ice, and all the windows were completely blanked off, made opaque, by rime frost.
Their catchers, operating in a 200-mile radius, spoke of heavy drift ice with bergs much more frequent and much bigger than usual.
Alpha was a barren oval chunk of floating drift ice less than a mile long, a hundred or so miles from the North Pole.