 Shuffling the Ice
Sea ice on the Arctic Ocean is always moving because of the currents beneath it. This movement causes a wide variety of collisions, factures or breaks in the ice, and creates dangerous obstacles for anyone travelling over it.
When ice floes collide and the edges are pushed together, the edge of one floe is sometimes pushed up on top of the other. This is called "rafting".
Rafting is often associated with thin ice up to 15cm / 6 inches thick, but it can also occur with ice that is over 1 meter / 3½ feet thick.
Click pictures for more information and credits. Library: Arctic, Ice Links: Arctic, Icebergs, Glaciers Arctic Maps & Weather Reports |
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DICTIONARY: Just "double-click" any unlinked word on this page for the definition from Merriam-Webster's Student Electronic Dictionary at Word Central. |
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ARCTIC LIBRARY & GLOSSARY: Check this section for an index of the rest of the things you really need to know about the Arctic. |
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ARCTIC MAPS & WEATHER REPORTS: Maps of the Northwest Passage, explorers' routes, iceberg sources, Nunavut, the Arctic by treeline, temperature... |
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ARCTIC LINKS: Even more information! Links to sites related to the Arctic and "Iceberg: the Story of the Throps and the Squallhoots". |
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GUIDE TO ARCTIC SUNRISE & SUNSET: How much sunlight or darkness is there in the Arctic on each day of the year? |
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