encountered at this point was thicker and included both blocks 

 and small floes, some of which ranged as high as 6 feet above 

 the surface of the water. Many of the floes were hummocked, 

 and occasionally their surfaces bore evidence of rotten ice. 

 (See figs. 53A through 53H.) 



On 2 August, the day on which the USS NEREUS left the 

 ice area, air reconnaissance dispatches reported the southern 

 limits of the arctic pack ice to be at about 72°44'N latitude in 

 this longitude. On the same day, a party left the USS NEREUS, 



Figure 53A. The brash and blocks mate* 

 ing up the southern limit of drift ice 

 {72°02'N / 168° 53' W) was easily navi- 

 gable. 



Figure 53B. Blocks and small floes 

 found a few miles north of southern 

 ice boundary. Hummocky blocks in 

 left foreground. 



77 



