After a long night’s sleep, we are now steaming ahead to the Antarctic peninsula.
Some facts and figures about Antarctica
Ice Terminology
Anchor Ice: Submerged ice which is attached to the sea bottom.
Bergy Bit: A piece of floating ice rising between 1 to 5 meters above the water.
Brash Ice: The remains of large pieces of ice crashing into each other and forming a large heaping pile.
Fast Ice: Sea ice attached to the shore or between grounded ice bergs.
Frazil Ice: Needle-shaped ice crystals that form a icy slush in the water.
Grease Ice: The stage at which the water gets a matte looking appearance when its between freezing and frazil ice.
Hummock: An area where ice floes have rafted or piled up on top of each other, often reaching heights several yards.
Ice Blink: A lighter section underneath the clouds which indicates reflecting light off the ice below. This technique was used by many early explorers to help steer them away from ice packs.
Ice Window: The short summer season when the fast ice has broken away to allow ships to come close to the Antarctic coastline.
Lead: A section of open water within pack ice and large ice floes.
Nilas: Thin crust of floating ice that bends in the waves, but does not break. The darker in appearance, the thinner the nilas is.
Pancake Ice: Discs of young ice, formed when waves jostle them against each other rounding their edges.
Tide Crack: A crack between sea ice and the shoreline. This crack is caused by the rise and fall of the tide and is usually to wide to cross safely.
www.eco-explorers.antacrtica.com
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