Figure 87. The location of the fissures in the region of the drift 

 of the Sadho from November through December 1937. 



Figure 87 corroborates that well. Figure 87 depicts Gordeev's sketching of the disposition of 

 the icebreakers Sadho, Mai y gin, and Sedov, which drifted with the ice in the northern part of 

 the Laptev Sea, as well as the dynamic fissures formed from November, 1937, to January, 1938, 

 in the region of the drift. The drawing gives the relative shift of the ships for that period. 



It is curious to note that in November, 1937, the fleet of ships drifted approximately in a 

 northerly direction as a result of the southeast wind. At the end of November, the winds were from 

 the southwest; during December, the ships drifted east -northeast. It is clearly shown in the sketch 

 that the principal directions of the fissures were approximately perpendicular to the prevailing wind. 



In 1934, during magnetic observations on the ice of the Chukchee Sea (after the destruction of 

 the Cheliuskin), Fakdov set up two identical perpendicular surfaces on an artificial, leveled ter- 

 race. He observed that the ice began to fluctuate from time to time along them. After an analysis 

 of his observations, Fakidov arrived at the following conclusions: 



1. Wind appears to be the chief cause of ice fluctuation. 



2. The greatest range of fluctuation is observed to be in the direction of the wind. 



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