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Hole in the fabric of ice

In the middle of an expanse of ice, the U.S. icebreaker Healy came upon an unusual feature—open water, next to a large chunk of ice. Science writer Helen Fields and photogrrapher Chris Linder, along to chronicle the research expedition headed by WHOI biologist Carin Ashjian, asked some of the scientists aboard how they thought it had formed. “Here’s the consensus,” wrote Fields: “the big piece of ice, which is several feet thick and has pressure ridges, was blown by the wind from lower right to upper left. In the process, it pushed ice in front of it – you can see a bit of newer ice crinkled and piled up to the left of the big piece – and left open water behind.” Read more about the just-finished spring voyage to study the Bering Sea ecosystem on WHOI’s Polar Discovery site.
(Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)