SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 



59 



Meckinff (1907. p. 11) found that the pack ice off Newfoundland 

 in normal years reaches its maximum in February and then dimin- 

 ishes to a secondary, much lower maximum in May. The monthly 

 percentages during a normal year are : 



The chief maximum results from the arrival off Newfoundland 

 of the accumulation of ice from Davis Strait in February. And by 

 calculating the rate of drift and the distance, he concludes that the 

 winds most effective in its transport are those of December. A year 

 cliaracterized by winds stronger than normal Avill not only advance 

 the date of this maximum but will also bring a greater abundance of 

 ice : weaker winds not only 

 postpone the maximum but 

 drive down less ice. The 

 date of the maximum may /i 

 vary from February to 

 May. or to even June in 

 some years. The second 

 maximum he believes rep- 

 resents the ice which be- 

 came entangled among the 

 relatively slow moving 

 body of bergs, which may 

 delay the pack as much as 

 two or three months. 



In the course of an in- 

 vestigation on the annual 

 variation of icebergs, con- 

 ducted by the international 

 ice patrol, data were com- 

 piled on the monthly rec- 

 ord of ])ack ice. No un- 

 mistakable evidence of a 

 doul)le maximum of pack ice appears in these records, and in view 

 of the dispersal that takes place, especially *- in the case of the ice- 

 bergs, in the course of a 1,500-mile journey, it seems unlikely that 

 such a secondary maximum should develop. 



Mv own .studv of the meteorological and ice conditions for the 

 period 1880 to l"l>L>G (Smith 1925, p. 229 and 1927. p. 31), was based 

 on the data on file at the British Meteorological Office and on the 

 ice records collected by Mecking (1907). by Schott (1904), by the 

 Unitcil States Hydrographic Office, and subsequent to 1913 by the 

 international ice patrol. The period investigated embraces 47 years, 

 a series of sufficient length to permit mathematical correlations and 



'-Till' .'^tcHmcr traffic to the St. Lawrence besinning in May each year follows the 

 tracks past Cape Race which are practically deserted all winter. Concurrently, the ice 

 records of the Ilvdrojrraphic Office for this region show a marked increase. It is some- 

 times very difficult to determine whether or not the reports have been duplicated, and if 

 so, how many times : thus it is very easy to record too much ice. Is it merely a coinci- 

 dence that the date of openijis this reg\on. May, is also the time of the second ice 

 maximum? 



K>D 



JFMA11JJAS0 



Seasonal Variation in Pack Ice in the 

 Western North Atlantic 



Figure 29. — A graph representing the relative vol- 

 ume of pack ice by months normally drifting 

 south of Newfoundland. This graph is based upon 

 ice sighted by trans-Atlantic shipping. (Com- 

 piled by Mecking, IflOT.) 



