- Sea ice does not float freely on the polar oceans , but rather is moved around, tossed about, and deformed as a result of several forces which act on the ice pack.
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- As with many physical systems, the forces which act on sea ice can be easily defined, and expressed mathematically.
- The sum of these forces result in motion of sea ice floes, and eventually collisions with other floes, producing deformation of the ice on the micro- and macro- levels.
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Courtesy of Hajo Eicken |
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- The motion of sea ice causes floes to move around and collide with one another, but these ice floes can also be ripped apart, as seen in this photograph. Those are my bunny boot imprints there, and I assure you that crack was not there when I made those prints.
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- Another effect of collisions is the oh-so-hard to walk on rubble fields, the result of strong collisions that break up the ice and jumble the blocks up into fields before they freeze together.
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