TABLE 36. THE CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF 

 SEA ICE AS A FUNCTION OF ITS AGE 



CI o/oo is the chlorine content; S03:C1 is the ratio of the sulphate ion content 

 to the chlorine content; A:C1 is the ratio of the alkaline content to the chlorine 

 content. 



TABLE 37. THE VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE 

 SEPARATE COMPONENTS IN SEA ICE 



Depth of the sample 



from the surface in cm 0-5 



S03:C1 0.1067 



A:C1 1.2597 



From the given data, and also from other Investigations we can see the following: 



1. The ratio S03:C1, as a rule, is considerably higher in sea ice than the same ratio in 

 normal sea water (0. 1159). In individual instances, this ratio can also be considerably higher. 

 Thus, Hamberg notes a case when the S03:C1 ratio attained a value of 0. 574, i. e. , it was five 

 times greater than normal. 



2. The S03:C1 ratio increases as a rule with the age of ice. (This is explained by the fact 

 that, as had already been pointed out, the chlorides precipitate from the solution with greater dif- 

 ficulty, and because of this, they seep out of the cells along with the brine more rapidly than the 

 sulphates which are partially deposited upon the walls of the cells (in the form of solid salts). 



3. The 303:01 ratio is generally lower in the upper layers than in the lower (which is ex- 

 plained by the fact that with each rise in the temperature of the ice above -8.2°, the sulphates 

 again dissolve in the brine and begin to seep into the lower layers of the ice, and then into the 

 water).* 



As for the ratio of alkaline to chlorine content, the first research into this question evidently 

 belongs to Laktionov, who, aside from observations of natural ice, also conducted the same kind 

 of investigations along with Kirilenko, under laboratory conditions. 



*Sverdrup's and Malmgren's conclusions from the results of the expedition on the .V?. id are ui 

 some opposition to these conclusions. These conclusions are obtained from the comparisons of 

 chlorine content, determined by ordinary titration of water obtained by melting sea ice, with the 

 chlorine content computed according to specific gravity (determined by a lydrometer, fully im- 

 mersed). Nansen also notes that according to his observations, the ratio of the chlorides to the 

 sulphate in under-ice water is lower than normal. Further research is necessary to solve this 

 contradiction. 



149 



