Ice Strength During the Melt Season

An analysis has been made of the changes in the strength of first-year sea ice as it goes through the melt season. A comparison has been made between measured ice borehole strengths and flexural strengths calculated using the equation of Timco and O\u2019Brien (1994). Both strengths show a dramatic decrease as the air temperature rises during the spring season. The analysis shows that there is excellent agreement between the decrease in strength of the ice borehole strength and the flexural strength. The strength of the ice sheet is approximately 20% of its peak mid-winter strength once the mean daily air temperature has been above 0\ub0C for a few days. This paper discusses the analysis and results.NRC publication: Ye