SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 



45 



Water witli a warm ciiiTent from the Atlantic, which. divin<'- beneath 

 the cold water of Davis Strait, is thoui>ht to emero-e on the surface to 

 lueit the ice from the head of Baffin Bay (see Nielsen, 1928, p. 221). 

 jTliere is no definite evidence of such a phenomenon contained in the 

 johservations of either Xielson (1928) or Annually (1929, pp. 87-95). 

 |lt seems more likely, however, tliat instead of a warm northward 

 inflow, this |)ei-sistent polynya in I^affin Bay is nuiintained hv a set 



foo go flo 7o 6o 



75 



7o 



60 



50 



Pack Ice Areas in Baffin Bay 



13 



7o 



FiGtRE I'l'. — Thp (lashed line represents the normal 

 maximum limit to which pack ice extends at the end 

 (if a ncirthern winter. The dotted line is the averase 

 July boundary of the main body of the pack. The 

 solid liiu' represents tl:e normal minimum area and 

 position to which the Battin I'.ay pack ice shrinks — 

 usually in September. Note the narrow shore lead 

 along the Battin Land side which isolates the pack 

 and may be the reason for designating this area of 

 ice as " the middle pack."' 



I in the opposite direction. The fast ice in Smith Sound is so strong 

 f that it resists the current, but that formed just to the south is swept 

 away, leaving open water beiiind it. This explanation is supported, 

 linoreover, by the recorded drifts of several ships and ice floes. Sev- 

 'lal observers in the vicinity of Etah have described looking south- 

 westward across the zone of fast ice over the open sea. The break 

 lip of the fast ice in Smith Sound during June and July temporarily 

 •hokes Xorth Water, but eventually the latter clears, and its area 

 s irreatest in late summer. The ice in Kane Basin, if it breaks loose 



