March 



The ice field continued to spread southeastward during early 

 March, reaching 47° 50' N., 47° 50' W., by the 6th and drifting 

 approximately 43 miles south-southeastward during the next 3 

 days. That ice east of the 49th meridian on the 9th was scattered 

 two-tenths to four-tenths cover and was mostly destroyed by fol- 

 lowing southerly winds, the southeasterly edge of the field having 

 receded to the west of 48° W., and northward of 47° N., when next 

 reported by aerial reconnaissance on the 15th. While the eastern 

 limits receded, the ice field continued to spread gradually south- 

 ward between the Avalon coast and the 50-fathom curve at the 

 northwestern edge of the Grand Banks, moving from the latitude 

 of Black Head on the 1st to the latitude of Bay Bulls on the 9th 

 and south past the 47th parallel with scattered patches as far south 

 as 46° 30' N., by the 13th. The inner edge of this ice cleared the 

 headlands allowing safe passage to St. John's until easterly winds 

 moved the ice inshore, threatening navigation to and from that 

 harbor from the 12th until the 20th and closing to the beach for a 

 few hours on the 14th. The ice field at the northeastern edge of 

 the Grand Banks again began to spread southeastward following 

 the 17th, moving 25 miles by the 20th and an additional 30 miles 

 by the 21st. The movement of the southeasterly tip then began to 

 shift southward roughly following the eastern slope of the banks 

 along the 100-fathom curve. Between the 21st and 22d the south- 

 eastern limit moved approximately 40 miles and between the 22d 

 and the 26th an additional 40 miles. From the 26th to the 28th 

 little additional southerly movement occurred, but the body of the 

 field shifted from 40 to 50 miles eastward reaching its easterly 

 extreme in the vicinity of 47°00' N., 46°30' W. The southerly limit 

 of the main field w^as in the vicinity of the 100-fathom curve at 

 latitude 45° 25' N., at the end of March, but scattered patches had 

 been reported as far south as the 45th parallel. 



Great numbers of small bergs w^ere observed distributed through 

 the field ice in that area of the field west of 48° W., and occasional 

 bergs within the southeastern portion of the field. Many bergs had 

 drifted free of the ice field along the coast of the Avalon Peninsula 

 and by the last of the month a few had drifted southward past 

 Cape Race. A reconnaissance flight on 28 March reported 164 

 " bergs south of 47° 30' N., and it is estimated that approximately 

 352 bergs drifted south across the 48th parallel during the month. 

 A very large percentage of these bergs were small, many of little 

 more than growler size. Refer to figure 35 for a plot of ice condi- 

 tions during March. 



April 



During the first half of April the deterioration at the south- 

 eastern limits of the field ice seemed to keep pace with the southerly 



91 



