SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 



59 



Meckin^^ (1907. p. 11) fouiul that the pack ice off Xewfoundlaiul 

 in normal years reaches its maximum in Febniarv and then dimin- 

 ishes to a secondary, much lower maximum in May. The monthly 



jjercentages during a normal year are : 



The chief maximum results from the arrival ofi' Newfoundland 

 (if the accumulation of ice from Davis Strait in February. And by 

 calculating the rate of drift and the distance, he concludes that the 

 winds most effective in its transport ai'c those of December. A year 

 characterized by winds stronger than normal will not only advance 

 the date of this maximum but will also bring a greater abundance of 

 ice; weaker winds not only 

 postpone the maximum but 

 drive down less ice. The 

 date of the maximum may 

 vary from February to 

 May. or to even June in 

 some years. The second 

 inaxinuun he believes rep- 

 resents the ice which be- 

 came entangled among the 

 relatively slow m o v i n g 

 body of bergs, which may 

 delay the pack as much as 

 two or three months. 



Ill the course of an in- 

 vestigation on the annual 

 variaticm of icebergs, con- 

 ducted by the international 

 ice patrol, data were com- 

 piled on the monthly rec- 

 ord of pack ice. Xo un- 

 mistakable evidence of a 

 <loul)le maximum of pack ice appears in the.se records, and in view 

 of the dispersal that takes place, especially *'- in the case of the ice- 

 bergs, in the course of a 1,500-mile journey, it seems unlikely that 

 ^uch a secondary maximum should develop. 



My own studv of the meteorological and ice conditions for the 

 period 18S0 to 1920 (Smith 1925. p. 229 and 1927. p. :^1), was based 

 on the data on file at the British ^leteorological Office and on the 

 ice records collected by Mecking (1907). by Schott (1904). by the 

 United States Hydrographic Office, aiul subsequent to 1913 by the 

 international ice patrol. The period investigated embraces 47 years, 

 a series of sufficient length to permit mathematical correlations and 



K)D 



Seasonal Variation in Pack ice in the 

 Western North Atlantic 



FiiiUKE '2Q. — A graph represt^uting tlie rolative vol- 

 ume of pack ice by months "normally drifting 

 south of Newfoundland. This graph is based upon 

 ice sialited liv traiis-.\tlantie shipping. (Com- 

 piled i)V Mocking. IHOT.) 



