VIII PREFACE 



expedition. Interest during the following years, kindled by inter- 

 national rivalry centered on the discovery of the pole, and this 

 activity brought Davis Strait and Baffin Bay world attention during 

 the latter part of the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth 

 century, after the decline of the whaling fisheries. 



We now come to a history of the scientific investigations which 

 have been carried out in connection with the great procession of ice 

 which invades the North Atlantic along its western side. Naturally, 

 one of the most important pieces of information on the southward 

 distribution is information of the current which transports the ice 

 to lower latitudes. The material is based on the following expedi- 

 tions: Scotia, 1913; Michael Sfirs, 1924; Dana, 1925; Chance, 1926; 

 Marion, 1928; and Godthaah, 1928. In addition to these investiga- 

 tions, confined solely to the inaccessible waters in summer time, we 

 have the records of the international ice patrol for a period of several 

 years, 1913 to 1929, covering the ice season. March to July, in the 

 regions south of Newfoundland. As a result of the work of these 

 expeditions we now are able for the first time to construct a fairly 

 accurate picture of the system of oceanic circulation and therefore 

 the paths taken by Arctic ice from its region of formation to its 

 ultimate fate in the North Atlantic. 



The international ice patrol was established in 1913 as a result of 

 the tragic loss of life and property when the steamship Titanic sank 

 April, 1912, off the Grand liank. Besides the practical work of 

 scouting for ice and warning all approaching ships of its position 

 and drift, there has been the scientific program of collecting observa- 

 tions which would lead to an intelligent knowledge of the best 

 manner in which to cope with the ice problem. During the course 

 of its 16 years of service the ice patrol has accumulated a vast store 

 of knowledge regarding the behavior of Arctic ice at its southern — 

 melting end. An account of the ice from its northern sources 

 to Newfoundland, based upon similar scientific methods as car- 

 ried out by the ice patrol, became a universal demand, resulting 

 in the sending out of the Marion expedition. The Marion, during 

 the summer of 1928, completed a current and ice survey of the entire 

 waters of Davis Strait from Newfoundland northward to the seven- 

 tieth parallel of latitude, and during the same months the Danish 

 ship Godthaab carried out a similar reconnaissance of a large por- 

 tion of Baffin Bay. We are now ready (historical records combined 

 with the oceanographical and ice observations of the Godthaab, 

 Marion, and international ice patrol), to present a comprehensive 

 exposition of Arctic ice, its state, behavior, and distribution to the 

 western North Atlantic. 



The writer first became associated with ice work when he joined 

 the ice patrol in 1920. He has been a member of the scientific statE 

 ever since and participated in the ice patrol cruises every winter 

 and spring in the ice regions off Newfoundland from 1920 to 1924, 

 inclusive. During the off season his time has been spent in study 

 and compilation of the annual published reports at Harvard Uni- 

 versity, working under the supervision of instructors in oceanog- 

 raphy and meteorology. In order to apply certain technical methods 

 of oceanography and meteorology to the North Atlantic ice problem, 

 he spent one year at the Geophysical Institute, Bergen, Norway, and 



