The July chart for 1948 shows a well developed 

 tongue extending from Disko Bay, and little if 

 any indication of a tongue from Northeast Bay. 

 The August chart for 1949 and the September 

 charts for 1968 and 1969 show well developed 

 tongues from Northeast Bay, with no indication 

 of a tongue from Disko Bay in 1968, and small 

 tongues in 1949 and 1969. It appears that the dif- 

 ference between the July and the August or Sep- 

 tember charts may be a normal seasonal phe- 

 nomenon. According to the Ice Atlas for the 

 Northern Heviisphere (U.S. Hydrographic Office, 

 1955), sea ice normally clears from Disko Bay in 

 June or July and from Northeast Bay in July. 

 Thus icebergs calved in Disko Bay are released 

 from sea ice sooner than those calved farther 

 north in Northeast Bay. This would result in the 

 season's production of icebergs from Disko Bay 

 appearing as a tongue in July and then dissipat- 

 ing in August or September as they drifted 

 northward or westward. Meanwhile another 

 tongue would be formed off Northeast Bay as the 

 icebergs were released from the sea ice in that 

 area. 



Indications of southwestward tending tongues 

 between 73N and 75N are found on the charts for 

 July 1948, August 1949, and September 1969. 



Very heavy concentrations of icebergs are usu- 

 ally found in northern Melville Bay, along the 

 Greenland coast in the vicinity of Cape York, and 

 around the Carey Islands. Many of the icebergs 

 found in these areas drift there in the north-flow- 

 ing West Greenland current. In some years the 

 heavy iceberg concentrations continue across 

 northern Baffin Bay to Ellesmere and Devon 

 Islands on the Canadian side of Baffin Bay. Off 

 Baffin Island heavy iceberg concentrations are 

 typically found in the general vicinity of Pond 

 Inlet, off Cape Christian, and north of Cape 

 Dyer. The largest concentrations are found off 

 Cape Christian, probably due to the shallow ai'ea 

 which extends off-shore in this area, and the con- 

 fluence of the two iceberg routes mentioned previ- 

 ously, directly across Baffin Bay and north 

 through Belville Bay. As an example of the 

 grounding of icebergs in the shallow water off 

 Cape Christian, a large iceberg was grounded a 

 short distance from the beach there for 2 years. 

 The iceberg concentration north of Cape Dyer 

 appears most prominent in July and August, 

 rather than September or October, indicating 

 that the concentrations may be at least partially 



due to the confluence of icebergs drifting north 

 through Melville Bay and those coming directly 

 across Baffin Bay from Disko Bay in the summer. 

 Deviations from the average 1964-69 iceberg 

 distribution shown in figures 28 through 31 docu- 

 ment an interesting progression of positive an- 

 omalies in northern Baffin Bay during the period 



1966 through 1969. In September 1966 there was 

 a deficiency of icebergs in northern Baffin Bay 

 near Cape York. September 1967 found large 

 numbers of icebergs extending westward past 

 Cape York in a broad band. By September 1968 

 the center of the large excess of icebergs had 

 moved northwest to the vicinity of the Carey 

 Islands. Finally in September 1969 it appears that 

 the excess of icebergs in the area began to dissi- 

 pate. Apparently the iceberg excess was released 

 into Baffin Bay in the summer of 1966 when the 

 average August air temperature at Upernavik 

 was 18°C above normal. The icebergs had prob- 

 ably not drifted as a group to the vicinity of Cape 

 York in time to be observed on the September 

 flight. However they were beginning to show up 

 south of Cape Christian as can be inferred from 

 the positive anomaly in that area in September. 



1967 was a very heavy iceberg seas'in on the 

 Grand Banks; apparently the potential for the 

 heavy season was due to the excess of icebergs 

 which moved directly across Baffin Bay during 

 the late summer and fall of 1966. The icebergs 

 which moved northwest toward Melville Bay evi- 

 dently were not a major threat to the Grand 

 Banks until 1970, 3 years later. However in 1970 

 weather conditions were unfavorable for a heavy 

 iceberg season and a light season was recorded. 



The above data seem to indicate that the ice- 

 berg danger on the Grand I5anks can come about 

 by two routes. One, icebei'gs drift directly across 

 Baffin Bay and threaten the Grand Banks the 

 following year ; and two, icebergs drift north into 

 Melville Bay to threaten the Grand Banks during 

 the next several years. Which route the icebergs 

 will take probably is quite dependent on wind and 

 ocean current conditions as they move from gla- 

 cier fronts into or through the AVest Greenland 

 Current. It is quite possible that in a given group 

 of icebergs some will follow the northern route 

 and others will follow the direct route. It is pos- 

 sible that the potential for very large iceberg 

 seasons on the Grand Banks is a result of large 

 numbers of icebergs from both routes coinciding 

 in their time of exiting Baffin Bay to drift south. 



