Photo credit: G.Dieckmann
pancake - migalik or puktellhak
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Grease ice is visible as frazil streaks on open water in a lead. |
The sea ice follows an annual cycle of forming in early winter, thickening throught the winter months, and thawing in spring and summer. In some areas there is ice that survives year round. The majority of the ice within reach of land in the Arctic melts completely by the end of each summer. The following list follow the formationa and thickening of the sea ice and it's eventual melting.
These types of ice are obviously unsafe to travel over. They are the earliest forms of sea ice which an observer from the surface would see.
pancake - migalik or puktellhak
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Grease ice is visible as frazil streaks on open water in a lead. |
As the ice thickens, it reaches a stage of questionable safety. These are the types that a traveller over the ice must be familiar with and able to distinguish amongst. The general differentiation between safe and unsafe ice is that of albedo. When the ice is dark (due to the dark seawater below and within the ice layer) it is unsafe. There is a relatively abrupt transition to light colored or gray ice. This is generally safe to travel across. Those who are experienced in travelling over the sea ice can walk smoothly, imitating the motion of a polar bear over similarly thin ice, across ice that may even break through with each step. This is apparently an art that not everyone can pick up and is generally used only when necessary.
When there is any question as to the safety of the ice, hunters have used the unaak to test the ice. An unaak is a pole with a metal hook in one end and a point on the other. It is used for various tasks while hunting. In order to test the ice thickness, one thrusts the unaak into the ice. If the ice does not break, then it it safe to walk over. When travelling over questionable surfaces, dog sleds or snow machines are considered safer than a man walking since the pressure exerted on the ice is greater in the case of a man on foot.
The distinction that seperates winter ice from young ice in this case is the unquestionable safety of it. Winter ice is obviously thick enough to hold a man or dog sled. It is usually light in color. After the transition to winter ice, there are few distinctions between ice types -- this is because the Inuit nomenclature is based upon safety for travel.
In Spring and Summer the ice begins to melt. This again leads to potentially unsafe travel. Rotten ice, for instance, can disintegrate completely if one steps on it.
