Identifying Iceberg Characteristics and Drift Patterns in Canadian Waters
Abstract
Tidewater glaciers drain a significant portion of the Greenland Ice Sheet and ice caps of the Canadian Arctic, but we currently know little about the primary sources or drift paths of icebergs in Canadian waters, and whether they are changing over time. Using the helicopter from the CCGS Amundsen icebreaker from 2016-2019, satellite tracking beacons were deployed on ~50 icebergs and ice islands in Baffin Bay to monitor their near real-time (hourly) movement. By measuring characteristics such as iceberg thickness and drift speed, the influence of oceanic circulation and winds on drift patterns and potential risks associated with shipping and offshore industry can be defined.
Initial results indicate that a combination of tides and currents move the icebergs in a generally south and west direction, with bathymetry influencing their local drift patterns. Results from the last ~3 years show that the most active iceberg moved at an average rate of about 26.6 km/day. The largest drift distance that recorded for an iceberg in this study was >5 600km over a 390 day period. This enables an improved assessment of the sources and sinks of icebergs in the Canadian Arctic, as well as those that drift in from adjacent Greenland waters. This has the potential to provide significant improvement in safety for shipping, particularly given the recent rapid increase in ship transits across the Canadian Arctic.- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.C31B1499D
- Keywords:
-
- 0720 Glaciers;
- CRYOSPHERE;
- 0758 Remote sensing;
- CRYOSPHERE;
- 0762 Mass balance;
- CRYOSPHERE;
- 0776 Glaciology;
- CRYOSPHERE