Field experiments on uniaxial compressive strength of sea ice in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica

• Main Author: Kivimaa, Seppo
• Format: Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Helsinki University of Technology 1999
• Subjects: Antarctic; Weddell; Weddell Sea; Antarc*; Antarctica; Arctic; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://cris.vtt.fi/en/publications/38805431-9546-4c27-9691-5627323795ec; https://www.poac.com/Papers/POAC99_V3_all.pdf

The field experiments on Antarctic sea ice physical properties were performed in the Weddell Sea during the two Finnish Antarctic Expeditions (FINNARP-89/90 and -91192). Altogether 86 ice cores were drilled from 19 test sites including shorefast ice and pack ice floes. The temperature, salinity and density distributions in the ice cores were measured. Ice thin sections were prepared and photographed through crossed polaroids to study the ice structural characteristics. The unconfined uniaxial compressive strength of ice was tested with 217 samples in the ambient temperatures of the examined ice floes. The tests were made in the brittle range with high strain rate in-situ or in the cold laboratories of the research vessels. Typical profiles of ice salinity, density, temperature and uniaxial compressive strength in the ice floes are presented. The results of structural classification of ice samples are given. Ice unconfined uniaxial compressive strength versus ice total porosity is illustrated.