Ice Regime and Ice Transport in Nares Strait

Abstract

In order to assess the part played by ice export through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the heat budget of the Arctic Ocean, one of the factors that must be known is the length of time per year that the channels are sealed by fast ice. To establish this for Nares Strait, a series of flights was undertaken through the winters of 1970-71 and 1971-72. The resulting observations, combined with a search of historical records, suggest that the date of consolidation of ice in this channel tends to be late. A tentative calculation of annual export leads to the conclusion that the contribution of the Canadian channels may be greater than has been supposed.