A knowledge of the dimensional characteristics of icebergs off the east coast of Canada is required for both scientific and engineering purposes. To fulfil this need, hydrocarbon exploration in the region has been supported by a program aimed at collecting morphometric data on icebergs, in addition to providing operational support for activities such as ice-berg towing, this program has yielded information which will be useful for the engineering design of offshore structures. Functional relationships between the dimensions of icebergs are presented and ratios between the linear dimensions are examined. These ratios are used to calculate preliminary values for draft and mass on the Grand Banks and are demonstrated to give reasonable values for draft of icebergs off Greenland.

Two methods are presented for calculating ice loads on structures using measurements from sensors imbedded in a floating ice sheet and from instruments attached to a structure. The first method uses a mathematical model describing ice/structure interaction for a cylindrical structure to interpret stress measurements. This technique requires only a few sensors to develop an estimate of ice loads, However, analytical and experimental results indicate that using a mathematical model to interpret stress measurements can result in inaccurate load estimates due to uncertainty in the accuracy of the model and and the uncertainty of using local ice stresses to calculate total ice forces. The second method of calculating ice loads on structures utilizes Euler and Cauchy’s stress principle. In this, the surface integral method, the force acting on a structure is determined by summing the stress vectors acting on a surface which encompasses the structure. Application of this technique requires that the shear and normal components of stress be known along the surface. Sensors must be spaced close enough together so that local stress variations due to the process of ice failure around a structure can be detected. The surface integral method is a useful technique for interpreting load and stress measurements since a knowledge of the mechanism of ice/structure interactions is not needed. The accuracy of the method is determined by the density of sensors along the surface. A disadvantage of the technique is that a relatively large number of sensors are needed to determine the stress tensor along the surface of interest.

The surface integral method can be used to examine the effects of grounded ice rubble on structural ice loads. Two instrumented surfaces, one enclosing a structure and the other enclosing the structure and rubble field can be used to estimate the load acting only on the structure and also on the structure/ rubble-field system.

The effect of sample and grain size on the uniaxial compressive strength of polycrystalline ice has been investigated at -10°C, at a strain-rate of 5.5 × 10-4 s-1 The results show (a) that the sample size must be 12 or more times greater than the grain size for ft to have no effect on the strength and (b) that there is no significant dependence of compressive strength on grain size, within the grain-size range of 0.6 to 2.0 mm.

Gravity measurements were made with a very sensitive gravimeter in permafrost terrain containing massive ground ice and other segregated ice. Measurements were first taken along a line over undisturbed terrain where a road cut was to be made; a second gravity profile parallel to the first profile but laterally displaced from it by about 36 m was subsequently made along the edge of the roadbed after road construction. Data from pre-construction borings and a profile of subsurface soil and ice conditions, synthesized from information obtained during cutting, were used for ground-truth information and compared with the gravity measurements. The horizontal dimensions and locations of the deposits of ground ice embedded in the soil layer correlated reasonably well with the dimensions and locations of the lows in the gravity profile. However, the second profile, taken along the roadbed, also showed significant variation even after the usual types of gravity corrections were applied, suggesting that there are significant horizontal variations in the density of the topmost layers of the underlying bedrock (schist) through which the cut was made.

The density contrast of the undisturbed ice-rich soil as a function of distance along the first pro-file was estimated assuming the contrast was produced by infinitely long, transverse, rectangular blocks of given dimensions but unknown density. A set of equations dependent (to a first approximation) only on the unknown block densities was constructed from the corrected gravity data and solved by the Gauss-Seidel method. The maximum contrast for one block was found to be about 0.4 Mg m3 which gives a volumetric ice content of about 80% for the block, if the mean den-sity for all the blocks is taken to be 1.45 Mgg m3

A third gravity profile was made over an artificially-constructed ice mass with dimensions of 34 × 0.69 × 3.2 m buried at a depth of 1.2 m. This profile did not show conclusively the presence of the ice mass, partly because the anomaly it produces is close to the nominal limit of detection of the gravimeter.

It is concluded that large massive ground ice can be detected by means of its gravitational field using sensitive commercially-available gravimeters in conjunction with some ground-truth data. However, the application of such gravimeters to routine pre-construction investigations and terrain reconnaissance for ground ice is limited by their sensitivity and by the requirement for a stable measuring platform. At present, the gravity method and possibly impulse radar are the only non-contacting remote methods for obtaining an estimate of the excess ice in permafrost.

Efforts to develop a dynamical model of Labrador pack ice have been hampered by a lack of input data, especially ocean current data. This work reports the results of approaching this problem in another way, where model simulations are used as a basis for adjusting the input currents to obtain agreement with ice drift data. The ice drift data comes from a period in February 1977 when a ship was fast in the northern Labrador pack. Unfortunately, the ship experienced navigation problems and the direct current observations were suspect. The model simulations bear this out indicating that it would have been very unlikely that the observed currents along with the other forcing terms could lead to the observed ice drift. A climatological current data set gave better agreement and was slightly modified to give the best agreement. This improved data set was used for a short sensitivity test of the rheological specifications of the model. It was found that the ice drift tracks were not very sensitive to the linear viscous stress law but were more sensitive to the parameterization used to reduce ice velocities in areas of high ice concentration and fast ice. Further plans are to use a model with a more realistic rheological component in order to assess its importance in estimating currents.

Drift tracks of Antarctic tabular icebergs have been studied by means of satellite-tracked buoys since the early 1970s. More recently, a growing interest in the possibility of using Antarctic icebergs to supply fresh water to arid areas has made resources available for more sophisticated experiments, and in 1978 three prototype stations were designed to measure interactions between tabular icebergs and the ocean. These stations were deployed in late 1979, and in early 1981.

The purpose of this paper is, firstly, to communicate some of our experiences with an earlier type of automatic data collection platform, and, secondly, to show that the substantial amount of tilt and strain data available from this station is unsuitable for data analysis. We discuss aspects of the data collected by the first of the three automatic stations, paying particular attention to the quality of the recorded strain and tilt data. It is shown that an unfortunate choice of instrument sensitivity and range severely limits the usefulness of the collected data, and that limitations in the data sampling regime make data analysis by conventional statistical methods very difficult. Several changes are proposed for the design of future data collection platforms for tabular icebergs, and some suggestions are made about data sampling. As this paper only concerns iceberg research, we do not discuss investigations of sea-ice drift made in the same area.

The prediction of the motions of a tabular iceberg in a seaway is a problem which cannot be solved with a simple approach. The main difficulty lies in the size and mass of the iceberg, which produce frequency-dependent hydrodynamical effects as it moves in the water. Specifically, any solution must take into account both the added inertia and the generation of surface waves caused by the motions of the berg. Early attempts at modelling, which did not include these terms, could not accurately predict the complicated response behaviour seen in field data. In this paper we discuss some modifications to a two-dimensional simulation of floating bodies in waves, which must be applied when the motions and the hydro-dynamical pressures beneath tabular icebergs are required.

Experiments on the behavior of the active granular layer between flowing snow and sintered basal snow were performed by laboratory simulation of the layer. Layer thickness, its velocity profile, kinematic viscosity, and shear locking stress were estimated fron low-velocity tests. Variation in these parameters over a temperature range from -5 to -18°C, for overburden pressures of 1180 and 2360 N m−2, and for surface hardness in the range 0.4 to 4.0 N m−2 were evaluated. Results show strong dependence between surface hardness and layer viscosity, and near linear dependence between shear locking stress and overburden pressures.

Over extensive areas of the Arctic and Antarctic, the c-axes of the grains in a sea-ice sheet develop a preferred orientation in a particular direction in the Horizontal plane, causing the physical and electromagnetic properties of the material to be anisotropic. A number of mechanisms have been proposed for this alignment, the more likely including the tilting of floes, horizontal temperature gradient, horizontal deviatone stresses, and oceanic currents. Laboratory experiments have been performed at the Scott Polar Research Institute to distinguish the effects of these mechanisms on the fabric of sea ice. Ho correlation was found between the development of the preferred orientation of c-axes and any of the first three mechanisms. However, in the presence of a current, the strength of the alignment increases rapidly with depth in the ice, the mean c-axis direction coinciding with the current direction. A significant reduction in alignment was produced when the flow was reduced to zero. In addition, upstream deflection of the columnar axis was observed in flowing brine. These results indicate the importance of fluid motion in controlling the rate of transport of solute from the interface and hence the relative growth rates of grains of different orientations.

An avalanche dynamics model, appropriate for complex terrain, for real avalanche paths was developed by Perla, Cheng and McClung in 1980. The model has two friction terms, one for sliding friction which is independent of speed, and one for turbulent friction which is proportional to V2, where V is the centre-of-mass speed along the incline. By introducing speed maxima for avalanches, along with start and stop reference positions, it is possible to determine the the two constant friction coefficients for the model. When this is done, it is found that speed data often exceed a model speed limit implied by the application of V = 0 at the start and stop positions. This effect is illustrated by analytic solutions of the relevant equations, as well as numerical solutions for actual avalanche paths. Some limitations and properties of the fundamental modelling are outlined and suggestions given for future use of such models.

There is at present a need to develop a better technique for measuring the rate of icing on structures such as, for example, overhead transmission lines. For aircraft and helicopter icing, the most widely used method of measurement is the rotating cylinder. However, for measuring the icing of structures, this method is difficult to apply and also less accurate due to lower wind velocities. Different approaches are now being developed using fixed cylinders.

Icing tests were conducted with fixed and rotating cylinders in a wind tunnel. The rate of icing was obtained through measurements of volume, accretion cross-section and time of deposition. Tests were made using five different liquid water contents and droplet diameter spectra, and four cylinder diameters, keeping the wind velocity and temperature constant. The rate of icing is presented as a function of the diameters of the fixed and rotating cylinders for each of the liquid water contents tested. Results indicate that at lower wind velocities the accretion rate is overestimated for the smaller rotating cylinders. This difference is probably due to the variation of the collection efficiency with diameter. From these results it is suggested that the rate of ice accretion on structures should be based on at least two fixed cylinders of different small sizes in order to take into account the effect of the collection efficiency.

The problem of a floating ice sheet hitting a structure with a vertical face appears to be a simple one but, in fact, has only been solved for a limited number of cases. Research work on this question usually reports on an indentation coefficient which relates the average pressure on the indenter to the uniaxial crushing strength of the ice. Very few tests have been made in the brittle range of ice failure. In this particular area of study, this paper reports on 27 tests that were conducted in a cold-room water basin where controlled S2 floating ice sheets were produced with a surface area of 4 × 4 m, three sides being fully restrained and the other, freely float! no, being submitted to the impact of the moving indenter. All tests were carried out at computed indentation rates varying from 0.017 to 0.34 s-1. In this range this ice would normally be considered to act as a brittle material. The thickness of the ice sheets varied from 1.2 to 9.0 cm and the indenter width from 5 cm to 1 m. Overall, the aspect ratio relating these two parameters could be varied from 0.5 to 83.

Results have shown that for aspect ratios <5, there was an important oscillatory effect which caused the formation of pi asti fi ed triangles in front of the indenter, increasing its resistance as it would under ductile conditions. Because of this plastification, an extrusion effect appeared in front of the indenter as the broken ice crystals were blown up and down in front of the fast-moving indenter. The theory of plasticity which gives an indentation coefficient of 2.97 seems to apply in this case. Another mode of failure which occurred with aspect ratios 5 was cleavage in the plane of the ice sheet which also gives a higher indentation coefficient for S2 ice, but of the same order of magnitude as previously.

For intermediate values of the aspect ratio, between 5 and 20, the theory of elasticity used by Michel (1978) seems to apply well. Shear cracks are first formed on both sides of the square indenter and control the maximum pressure when they propagate inside forming big triangles in front of it.

Finally, for aspect ratios ~>20, buckling of the ice occurs, either after or at the same time as the formation of wedges, together with a reduction in the indentation coefficient to a value close to that given by the theory of buckling of a truncated 45° wedge with a hinged edge.

To elaborate design concepts of elevated buildings in an area of drifting snow, snow deposition and wind profiles around two buildings at Syowa station, Antarctica, were observed in 1978. To interpret the observed results in detail, wind-tunnel experiments on scale models were carried out. A wind-scooped snow deposit was formed behind the building and a sharp ridge was formed on the lee side. The highest point of the deposit was at a distance of 1 or 1.5 times the floor height (about 1.5 m) and the skirt of the snowdrift extended about 5 times the height of the roof. Wind profiles measured near one of the buildings (ionosphere hut) were expressed in terms of the logarithmic law. Two methods based on wind-tunnel experiments were used to estimate the development of snowdrifts around the building: one is to estimate the deposition from the difference in transport of blowing snow calculated from wind profiles and snowdrift flux profiles, the other is by deduction from the distribution of wind profiles. These experiments together with previous ones indicated that the optimum floor height was about 44Î of the height of the building.

In order to clarify the process of snow accretion, which occurs at a temperature below the melting point of ice, experimental studies were made on the microscopic process of ice Adhesion as well as the tensile adhesive strength of snow onto various kinds of materials.

For this purpose, direct observations were made of the formation of an ice bond developed at the interface between an ice particle and a plate made of a transparent material such as glass, acrylic plastic (polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)), or ice, and measurements made of the growth rate of the real contact area.

The growth rate of an ice bond formed at the interface between an ice particle and the plate of a hydrophilic material such as glass was equal to or slightly larger than that of ice sintering, while an ice bond was not formed at the interface between an ice particle and the plate of a hydrophobic material such as teflon.

As for adhesive strength, with the lapse of time it increased rapidly at the former interface and slowly at the latter interface. Examinations of fracture planes revealed that at or near the interface a pure adhesive break did not take place with the exception of teflon and vinyl, and that what took place there was a cohesive break or a mixture of cohesive and adhesive breaks.

This paper describes a deterministic, distributed snow-melt model which has been developed for the Systeme Hydrologique Européen (SHE), The model is based on partial differential equations describing the flow of mass and energy through the snow. These equations are solved by an implicit, iterative finite-difference method. The behaviour of the model is investigated using data from a sub-Arctic site in Scotland.

The air content of sea ice can be measured directly by melting a sample and collecting the released air, provided the air saturation ratio in the meltwater is known. The saturation ratio was found experimentally to be a function of three parameters: the time after an ice sample was melted, the average bubble size, and the air porosity of the sample. Since the last parameter is the term to be determined, an iteration method was employed in calculations of porosity. The bubble pressure was assumed to be at one atmospheric pressure. The vertical profile of air porosity was thus obtained for first-year sea ice in the Arctic. The results were in good agreement with estimations of porosity made from density values measured for the same samples. This indicates that the bubble pressure is near one atmospheric pressure.

Field measurements of water temperatures in two turbulent streams in interior Alaska have been made during periods of frazil-ice production. The measured equilibrium temperature of the water Te-0.005°C agrees with the value calculated from the electrical conductivity of the water. Average cooling rates of the streams during the summer-to-fall stream cooling period were on the order of several tenths of a degree per day with average surface heat losses of -5 to -18 W m−2. Just prior to a frazil-ice event, the water-cooling rates were -1 to -3 mK min−1 with surface heat losses of -47 to -140 M m−2Supercooling at the water surface of a stream prior to and during frazil-ice production does not exceed 0.2°C as shown by measurements of air-water temperature profiles and by radiometer measurements. Mater supercooling at the time of frazil-ice nucleation was <10 mK. These measurements show that frazil-ice nuclei in streams must be other ice particles, cold organic materials, cold soil particles, or a combination of these, that may be introduced into the stream by mass exchange processes at the air-water interface.

The maximum observed supercooling was ΔTm 40 mK. Two measured values for the residual supercooling were 3 and 9 mK. Frazil growth rates calculated from the observed values of supercooling show that, unless the period of residual supercooling is very long, most of the frazil-ice production during one night of supercooling occurred in the transient thermal period from the time of nucleation to the time that the water became residually supercooled.

One of the most conspicuous phenomena in the Arctic Is the fracture of sea ice. It is scarcely possible to travel far without seeing a variety of fracture forms, produced both by natural processes and by human activity.

At strain-rates below about 10−4 s−1, deformation is dominated by creep, but at higher strain-rates fracture is much more important. One of the reasons for this is the very low fracture toughness of ice. The movements of ice in contact with offshore structures often induce strain-rates well beyond the level at which fracture begins, and so offshore structures will often operate in the fracture regime, and it is fracture processes which will determine the design loads. We consider the different modes of repeated fracture that will occur, and classify them into distinct mechanisms of crushing, spalling, and radial and circumferential cracking. Experimental and field observations are plotted on a deformation mode map. A theoretical treatment of radial cracking confirms that very low loads can propagate cracks to long distances; these loads are small by comparison with those calculated from theoretical models that treat ice as a plastically-deforming continuum.

Snow avalanches threatening the road to the Sunshine ski area in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, are controlled by helicopter bombing and preplanted explosives. The effectiveness of these methods is evaluated using two ratios: avalanche points/bomb and avalanche points/kilogram of explosive, where avalanche points are computed on a scale of 1 to 5, according to size. Analysis of 74 helicopter missions shows a significant increase in avalanche points/bomb with increasing bomb mass. Comparison of helicopter bombing (near-surface detonations) with preplanted charges (ground detonation) shows that ground detonations are at least as effective as bombs detonated just below the snow surface.

Supercooled droplets of 38 μm mean volume diameter are accreted on a smooth aluni mum cylinder of 3.15 cm in diameter in order to study the effect of an electrostatic field upon ice formation on a power-line conductor. The results obtained show that ice grown in the presence of an applied negative field of 15 kV cm−1 exhibits a cusped-lobe structure characterized by surfacial outward knobs, convex rings of fine air bubbles and radial lines of large air bubbles; in the same conditions, a positive electric field of 15 kV cm−1 does not produce such lobe features. On the other hand, accretion tests performed in the absence of an electric field with a 33 μm droplet spectrum show that the well-developed cusped-lobe structure appears in ice at low ambient temperature and air velocity. In the present experimental conditions, the formation of cusped lobes observed in the presence of a negative electric field could be explained by a decrease in the temperature of the deposit due to a reduction of impact velocity of the charged droplets and/or an increase in the local heat-transfer coefficient at the surface of the ice accretion. Corona wind from ice points, always in the opposite direction to the impinging droplets, may also reduce their impact velocities. In addition, corona wind and roughness of the surface may contribute to a better evacuation of the latent heat and thus decrease the deposit temperature. The difference between the effects of a negative DC field and those of a DC positive field of the same strength comes from a stronger ionization intensity and/or a stronger deformation of water drops in the negative electric field.