52 



IMARIOX EXPEDITION TO DAVIS STRAIT AND BAFFIN BAY 



latitude of St. Johns. NewfoiiiullaiKl. 1 to li iiR-hcs in thickness, aiul 

 out from the coast for a distance of several miles. Kodman ( L'SDO 

 p. 2()) has published a table showinji; the ap])roximate dates of ap- 

 pearance and disappeai'ance of ice along' the Labrador and New- 

 foundland coasts. 



On several previous occasions in discussing certain regions we have 

 called attention to the im])ortant influence which bathymetrical con- 

 ditions have on ice distribution. The Labrador shelf is no exception 

 to the rule, })roviding a high road, so to speak, along which the pack 

 may easily advance to lower latitudes. The bathymetrical ma]) of 

 Davis Strait shows that the Labrador shelf is much wider than that 

 along the other coasts of this region. It maintains an average width 

 of 80 miles, as determined by the 5(K)-fathom isobath, from Cape 

 Chidley, Labrador, southward to Hamilton Inlet, thence to the lati- 

 tude of Cape Race it spreads out very wide; for example, off St. 

 Johns it measures nearlv 'iSO miles. The l^readth and ireneral oiit- 



The Offing of the Labrador Coast in June 



FniURB 2(!. — Tlie procession of pack ice which is continually hcing Ikuiic sout'iwaril 

 along the Labrador coast for seven months of the year by the cold current. This 

 coastal belt of pack ice is claimed to play an important role in the sourh\v;iril 

 distribution of the icebergs, they being fended off the coast and kept out in tlio 

 Cold current. (I'hotograph by B. M. Kindle.) 



line of the east North American pack along this coastal stretch is 

 largely a reflection of the depths. In years of abundant ])a(k. the 

 outer edge of the field off St. Johns has been recorded a hundred or 

 two hundred miles from the coast. 



As summer advances, the ])ack melts back toward its luirthern 

 roots uncovering first the Newfoundland and then the Labiador 

 coast lines. The Strait of Belle Isle is usually o})en to navigation 

 from July to December, the first of the trans-Atlantic steamers en- 

 tering June 15 to July 1 and the last passing out the first week in 

 December. The Labrador coast is often free of ])ack ice. at least for 

 navigation, during .July, while in other summers the coast ha> been 

 continually hann)ered.''' 



^* An excellent example of the rate of dissipation of the Labrador pack is afforded by < k 

 the fact that the (lodtliaoh expedition in early .Tune. 3;il2S. found a field of pack ice «• ' 

 tending along a large part of tlic Labrador slielf of IS.uoe s«|iiare niib's area, ''"f *'* 

 weeks later the Marion exjx'dition found these waters clear and all ice disappeared. "af» 

 ice in the western Norlli Allanlic was niarkedlv ImIow imrTnal tlie year of I'S-S. 



