The fast ice is generally flat and is normally free of glacial frag- 

 ments, A small number of bergs, and bergy bits on occasion drift into 

 some of the bays and ground. The ice begins to break along the margin in 

 the early part of June and the coast is clear in early July. 



The snow layer on the ice in the vicinity of Loks Land, varies from 

 6 to 8 inches and decreases northward to h inches,, These depths will vary 

 considerably as a result of drifting. 



The ice seaward of the fast ice margin is in motion constantly. It 

 first appears locally in early November and moves eastward until it covers 

 the sea to within 50 or 60 miles of the Greenland coast at the latitude 

 of Cape Dyer. It turns southwestward toward Cape Chidley wherp it appears 

 in the early weeks of December as a belt of 40 to 60 miles in width. 

 Augmented by the ice from the waters to the north, the ice enters Baffin 

 Bay through the sounds of the Canadian Archipelago, The drifting pack 

 has a complex composition with ever-changing concentration and distribution. 



During the winter and early spring months, the inner pack is composed 

 largely of medium and giant floes. Its periphery frequently is broken 

 into small flops and blocks because of the action of sea and swell and 

 sudden changes in pressure. Floes are frequently the product of consoli- 

 dation; thpy may contain ice of different ages and stages of growth. 

 Waters undergoing rapid refreezing often retain large distributions of 

 newly fragmented ice. Newly formed floes are broken and the process is 

 renewed. 



Thus, the ice is unreliable from the point of thickness, dimension, 

 and topography. Locally formed ice is subject to frequent breakup, and 

 the process of consolidating the ice produces ridging. Floes drifting 

 from the north are often heavily ridged and hummocked. 



During the latter part of March or April, ice drift increases. The 

 pack broadens considerably and changes radically in distribution and con- 

 centration. In May it reopens and the contribution from Baffin Bay dimin- 

 ishes. Thereafter, the area of ice rapidly decreases leaving ice patches 

 and belts by the latter part of June. The pack practically disappears by 

 August. 



Glacier ice is found in this region during the entire year. Bergs 

 discharged from Disko Bugt drift within the boundary zone of the pack and 

 converge on Resolution Island. Those drifting off the coast of Baffin 

 Island are of many varities and represent products .of the glaciers in 

 Melville Bugt, the region to the north of Thule, and the coast of Elles- 

 mere Island. 



In the vicinity of Cape Dyer and southward to the latitude of Cumber- 

 land Sound, strong northerly winds produce east-west leads several miles 

 wide and 40 miles or more long. They are usually ice free; however, when 

 formed in March and April, they freeze over rapidly. The new ice formed 



10 



