Grounded Ice in the Fast Ice Zone along the Beaufort Seacoast of Alaska

Four large grounded multi-year shear ridge formations were found in the grounded ice subzone of the fast ice zone near the Harrison Bay/Prudhoe Bay area of Alaska. A 166-m-long cross section of one of these formations was obtained by leveling and sonar measurements. These measurements revealed that...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kovacs,Austin
Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER N H
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1976
Subjects:
Physical and Dynamic Oceanography
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
*ICE
*SEA ICE
*BEAUFORT SEA
*ICE ISLANDS
*ICE REPORTING
DENSITY
TEMPERATURE
THICKNESS
COASTAL REGIONS
ALASKA
SURFACE ROUGHNESS
ICE FORMATION
METEOROLOGICAL RADAR
SALINITY
SONAR
BRINES
SIDE LOOKING RADAR
CORE SAMPLING
PACK ICE
*Harrison Bay
Prudhoe Bay
Beaufort Sea
Ice
permafrost
Sea ice
Alaska
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA031352
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA031352
Description
Summary:Four large grounded multi-year shear ridge formations were found in the grounded ice subzone of the fast ice zone near the Harrison Bay/Prudhoe Bay area of Alaska. A 166-m-long cross section of one of these formations was obtained by leveling and sonar measurements. These measurements revealed that the maximum ridge height was 12.6 m and that the formation was grounded in 17-18 m of water. The salinity, temperature, brine volume and density of the ice were determined on samples obtained by coring. The physical characteristics of the formations as observed in satellite, SLAR and aerial imagery indicate that these formations have not moved between the time of their formation in the fall of 1974 and August of 1976. Evidence of significant aeolian debris discoloring the ice is discussed.

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