Topographic Features

Topographic features are very important during travel on the ice. They can be an aid to route finding, provide a perch for reconnaisance, or make travel extremely difficult. Travel over the sea ice can vary from smooth avenues along freshly frozen leads to a slow process of route finding amongst piled blocks and open cracks.

Open Water

Open water is where most hunting goes on. The sea mammals need open water to breath. Polar bears do their hunting at the ice edge as well. Open water can also be inconvenient or dangerous.

This lead could be a serious impediment to travel, but could also supply hunters with Narwhales.

crack – kupak
small crack – kupagaluzak
large crack – kupakpak or kupasuguzuk or kupagazoak
new crack – nutak kupak
crack with open water – imak kupagazoak or sikuichak kupak
crack with snow over it – kupak aputilik
hole in ice – putu (can include seal breathing holes where hunting occurs)
small polynya – imaurak
large polynya – imakpak
shore lead between beach and shore– killigisinek
down folded pressure crack filled with water – imaktinik or ivuuk (distinct from upfolded pressure crack forming a den)
shore lead between landfast ice and pack ice – uinek
inlet or bay along lead edge – kanellluk

Ice "landmarks"

These features can be seen from far away. They are thus aids to navigation. At the same time they can be impediments to travel.

point along lead – nuwuk
landfast ice – tuwak
rough ice – kaigechuk or kayagalaak

This ice ridge is now surrounded by summer melt ponds.

ice ridge – ivunnik or ivunnikpaich if large
flat walls of ice – agayagnik or agaiupak or agaipak
large flat wall >10 ft. high – agaiupakpak
small flat wall <2 ft. high – agaiupaurak
flat ice surrounded by rough ice – kaiaksuak (kaiaksuakpak if large, kaiaksuzak if small)
grounded floeberg – puktak
ice with bottom debris – anagalu

Discrete ice on top of the flat surface

Ice blocks can be pushed up on the ice surface when floe edges converge. The blocks eventually may appear to have come from nowhere if the lead refreezes.

large block of ice – sikukazaak
vertical piece of ice forming landmark – napaiuk or ivunnik napaizoak if large, >10 m high
rough ice due to blocks of ice on surface – napasalik

Deformational features

When ice edges converge, the ice may buckle or one edge may ride over the other as in rafting. In the case of up-folded ice, seals use these dens to give birth to pups and protect them while they are young. Both polar bear and human hunters take advantage of this.

up-folded (buckled) ice forming a den – kukuluginik
wrinkled young ice (from buckling) – tuhuzuginik or pikunik (This is merely a more complex mode of buckling whereby there is a periodic buckling of the ice surface.)
rafted ice – ivunnik kalligaich
rafted young ice – kalagsinik (each individual layer is unsafe, but the double layer is safe)

Formational features

flat ice foot on beach from wave splashing – kaimuguk

This image shows ice forming out from the edge of a crack. Eventually it may form an ateginegak.

ice apron from lead edge (smooth and good for travel) – ateginegak

Summer ice, thawing ice

Features in the summer may be very different than in the winter. For instance, freshly piled ice in the summer may disintegrage without warning. Older piles may be safer. Standing near a crack edge can be dangerous because the melting at the ocean surface may undercut a thin ledge that can't hold a person.

ice overhang – kanattaak (formed by undercutting of melt)
underwater shelf – icheak
freed anchor ice rising up – allivinek (can break through ice along the edge or impact a boat)

Return to overview.