The drift of ice islands from the Arctic Ocean into the channels of the Canadian Arctic archipelago: the history of Hobson's Choice Ice Island

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Authors: Jeffries, Martin O., Shaw, M. Amanda
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1993
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Northwest Territories; Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Peary; Heiberg; Axel Heiberg Island; Cornwallis; Ellef Ringnes Island; Queens Channel; Peary Channel; Cornwallis Island; Arctic Archipelago; Polar Record; Queen Elizabeth Islands
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400023950; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400023950

ABSTRACT The drift of Hobson's Choice Ice Island from the Arctic Ocean into the channels of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Northwest Territories, Canadian Arctic, between February 1988 and August 1992, was monitored by a Système Argos satellite-positioning buoy. During the period August 1991 to May 1992, the ice island was imaged by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) aboard the ERS-1 satellite. The buoy data show that Hobson's Choice entered Peary Channel (between Axel Heiberg Island and Ellef Ringnes Island) in October 1988. Subsequently, between mid-August 1991 and November 1991, it drifted rapidly south to Queens Channel (60 km north of Cornwallis Island). The SAR data corroborate the buoy data and also reveal that at least six other ice islands entered the Queen Elizabeth Islands' channels with Hobson's Choice. The SAR imagery also recorded the fragmentation of Hobson's Choice between mid-October and mid-November 1991. The buoy and SAR data are conclusive evidence that ice islands do leave the Arctic Ocean via the northwestern channels of the Canadian Arctic archipelago. The observed drift occurred when there was extensive break-up of fast ice in the inter-island channels caused by above average summer temperatures, in combination with favourable atmospheric circulation and surface winds that drove the ice islands into and through the channels.