THE SALINITY AND DENSITY OF NATURAL AND FLOODED SEA ICE AT THULE, GREENLAND, 1958

• Main Author: FUNAI,A.I.
• Other Authors: NAVAL CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB PORT HUENEME CALIF
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1961
• Subjects: *ICE; DENSITY; SALINITY; SEA WATER; Greenland; Ice Sheet; Sea ice; Thule
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0263577; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0263577

As a part of the Laboratory's Ice Engineering Research Program, the salinity and density of ice formed by successively flooding and freezing 3-inch layers of sea water onto the top of a natural sea-ice sheet were determined and compared with similar determinations from the undisturbed natural sea ice. The flooded-ice salinity data averaged 10.9 parts per thousand, or over twice the average for natual sea ice but only a third the salinity of the sea water used for the floodings. The flooded-ice density data averaged 0.867 gm/cc, or about 7 percent lower than the average density of natural sea ice. The air content of the flooded ice, estimated from the density data, was between 8 and 10 percent by volume, or from 1.5 to 3 times greater than the brine content of the ice at -20 C. The variability of the natural-ice data. An analysis of the salinity data from both types of ice indicated that from 70 to 90 percent of the total variance could be attributed to variations of salinity with strata or layer depth. (Author)