An Analysis Of Ice Profiles Obtained By Submarine Sonar In The Beaufort Sea

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Abstract
A profile of the ice cover in the southern Beaufort Sea was obtained by the submarine U.S.S.Gurnardin April 1976, using a narrow-beam upward-looking sonar. The 1 400 km profile consisted of three legs, of which the long south-north and east-west legs intersected near the Caribou camp of the AIDJEX experiment. A statistical analysis was carried out over contiguous 50 km sections to yield probability-density functions of the drafts of ice and of level ice, the distributions of keel spacings and drafts, and the frequencies and widths of leads. Two distinct types of ice cover were found in the profile. The first, nearest the coast in the south and west of the experimental area, consisted of heavily ridged ice with mean drafts of up to 5.1 m. The rest of the track (1 200 km) consisted of a homogeneous ice cover with a mean draft of 3.7 m. The percentage of thin ice varied greatly from section to section, with a range of 0.4 to 12.3% for ice of 0–1 m draft. Level ice, defined as ice with a local gradient of less than 1 in 40, made up 56% of the homogeneous cover, with a preferred draft of 2.7 to 2.9 m. Keel spacings obeyed a negative exponential distribution, with a deficit at small spacings due to a keel shadowing effect and a surfeit at very large spacings due to the contribution of polynyas. The draft distribution of keels was a negative exponential of form, withBandbas parameters. This differs from the distribution of Hibler and others (1972), probably because the narrow beam records a complex structure for every keel. The homogeneous cover had a lower keel frequency and mean draft than the ice nearest the coast. Maximum keel draft was 31.12 m. The average separation of leads was 212 m, with almost all leads being less than 50 m in width.

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