the ice between was composed of broken and refrozen blocks which offered 

 considerable resistance to the ship's progress. No bergs were seen 

 during the two previous days, but on the morning of the 25th of October, 

 about one half mile west of a lone, tabular berg, the ship became 

 stuck in a patch of consolidated ice which required six hours to make 

 four miles southing. The ice was four to five feet thick in the level 

 portions, but many pressure areas with ridges and hvmiraocks were present. 

 Little progress was made on the 2$th, and on the afternoon of the 26th, 

 after several hours had been expended in breaking through a heavy 

 pressure ridge, more favorable ice was encountered. Leads were infrequent 

 and trended mainly in an east and west direction; they were usually re- 

 frozen with a foot or two of new ice. 



By 27 October the GLACIER reached approximately 76OS. Here, the 

 ice became comparatively easier to traverse and more frequent leads 

 occurred. Progress was still slow through the ice, which, while it was 

 not more than two or three feet in thickness, was heavily snow-covered. 

 At about 1000 on the morning of the 27th, course was gradually shifted to 

 the west through ice one to two feet thick but still heavily snow 

 covered, and predominately new. Just before reaching 168°E, north of 

 Beaufort Island, a patch of more consolidated ice was passed throvigh. 

 This was left behind when the ship headed due south to pass Beaufort 

 Island on the west. Open water areas became more frequent and just 

 northwest of the island, almost completely ice-free water was entered. 

 This was followed to Cape Bird and on into KcMurdo Sound late in the 

 afternoon of 28 October 1956, The large tabular berg which had been 

 noted during last year's cruise was still in its original place, 

 tied fast to the east of Cape Bird by fast ice and to Beaufort Island 

 to the north and west by more fast ice. Apparently this huge block 

 of ice, measuring some twelve by fifteen miles in extent, may remain 

 fixed in its present position for some time to come. Nothing short of 

 an extremely severe seismic disturbance, or extensive storm conditions 

 can possibly move it from its place at the northeast approach to McMurdo 

 Sound. Here it produces a marked interference with the normal current 

 pattern of the area and must contribute greatly in the prevention of 

 normal clearing of fast ice from the sound. 



The GLACIER' s experience with the ice in late October in the 

 western Ross Sea, almost two months earlier than previous records, 

 resulted in some interesting summary observations as to ice conditions 

 at this early date. In general, the ice, except at pressure ridges, 

 or in places where rafting or broken and refrozen ice was met with, 

 was never very thick, A measured thickness, obtained by blowing holes 

 with 15-pound shaped charges, gave five feet on the level, with eight 

 feet near a pressure ridge. These meastirements were made on 26 October 

 while the ship v/as beset at one of the most difficult places encountered. 

 Most of the ice scarcely exceeded three to four feet in thickness as 

 measvired with a graduated duraluralnum rod from the welldeck. Frequent 

 blocks of ice were ten or even more feet in thickness, but the general 



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