NANS EN'S MEMORABLE VOYAGE IN THE "FRAM" 375 



been driven contained a complete mold of her shape, every seam and 

 mark being reproduced in the ice. This proved that the test had not 

 only been a severe one, but conclusive as well, since the vessel had 

 really been frozen so solid into a mass of ice as to be a part of the 

 mass. Her escape was an overwhelming disproof of the adverse 

 theories expressed against her, and an entire victory for Nansen. 



The existence of this constant movement of the Arctic ice, 

 which is everywhere found, calls for some explanation. It might 

 be imagined that the vast field of thick ice in the polar seas, extend- 

 ing for some two thousand miles between the northern shores of 

 America, Asia and Europe, would rest in one vast, moveless plain, 

 resisting storms and all other disrupting forces. And so it might 

 but for a constant movement in the water itself, that of the tides, 

 with their daily rise and fall. 



The ebb tide, in the shallower waters, leaves wide tracts of ice, 

 previously afloat, straining on the ground, cracking so as to form 

 enormous fissures and weakening the surface resistance. On the 

 other hand, the flood tide wells and presses against the overlying 

 barrier of ice, lifting it up until it cracks and opens, the pressure 

 underneath raising the separated masses upon their neighbors, 

 which in turn resist with all their weight and grind back upon the 

 masses beyond. With the turn of the tide the forced-up masses 

 gravitate down again, tumbling, crashing, bounding and rebound- 

 ing one upon the other. 



It is a battle between the energy and the resistance of nature, 

 and usually energy wins along the line of least resistance. Here, 

 when once a point gives way, the accumulated force concentrates. 

 The "point" may be an area of ice a hundred miles square and fifty 

 feet thick, and this tremendous mass, moved by the immeasurable 

 force of the water pressure beneath it, grinds upon its surroundings 

 and upon itself. Huge masses are pushed upon the surface of the 

 pack, crushing, grinding, and splintering as they go, their weight 

 causing the under ice to bend and crack, and so add to the confusion 



