REPORT OF ICE OBSERVATIONS MADE ON THE AEROARCTIC 

 EXPEDITION WITH THE "GRAF ZEPPELIN," 1931 



The investigations made in connection with the Marion expedition 

 in 1928 ^ impressed ice patrol officials with the important influence 

 of pack ice on the drift of icebergs. The number of icebergs that 

 menace the steamship lanes south of Newfoundland in any year is 

 believed to vary directly as the abundance of pack ice which block- 

 ades Labrador and Newfoundland shelf waters. The pack ice acts as 

 a fender and thus prevents the bergs from following the general on- 

 shore tendency of the cold currents, and strand. Thus many more 

 bergs than otherwise are carried south of Newfoundland, consti- 

 tuting there a distinct navigational menace to ships voyaging between 

 Europe and North America. The movement of pack ice as it modifies 

 the drift of icebergs, in the region of Davis Strait, is more fully ex- 

 plained in the Marion expedition reports. See Coast Guard Bulletin 

 19, part 3, page 179. 



Since a large proportion of the pack ice which hampers the Labrador 

 and Newfoundland coasts comes from an Arctic Ocean source, any 

 information on the freezing and drift of such ice must, in turn, throw 

 more light on iceberg problems of the northwestern North Atlantic. 

 An opportunity to make some observations on this subject was of- 

 fered by the aeroarctic expedition with the dirigible Graf Zeppelin 

 the summer of 1931. 



Aeroarctic Society is an internationally organized body of scientists, 

 formed to study and explore the Arctic by means of aircraft. After 

 the death of Fridtjof Nansen in 1930, Dr. Hugo Eckener, director of 

 Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, was elected president of Aeroarctic Society, 

 and it was under his direction that the expedition with the Graf 

 Zeppelin was carried out in 1931. The United States Coast Guard, 

 because of the scientific studies that have been pursued in connection 

 with the practical duties of international ice patrol, has grown to be 

 recognized as one of the authorities on Arctic ice and oceanography. 

 Particularly is the Coast Guard known for its investigations on the 

 behavior of icebergs in the western North Atlantic. Largely in ac- 

 knowledgment of this work, Coast Guard headquarters was invited 

 early in 1931 to assign one of its officers experienced in ice patrol 

 service to duty as a member of the scientific staff of the Graf Zeppelin; 

 in order especially to observe ice and oceanographic conditions during 

 the polar flight. The Coast Guard assigned Lieutenant Commander 

 Edward H. Smith to temporary duty with the expedition. 



1 Smith, Edward H,, The Marion expedition to Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, under the direction of the 

 United States Coast Guard, 1928. Scientific Results. Arctic Ice with Especial Reference to its Distri- 

 bution to the North Atlantic Ocean. Bulletin 19, Part 3. Washington, 1931. 



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