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Drift ice, also called brash ice, is sea ice that is not attached to the shoreline or any other fixed object (shoals, grounded icebergs, etc.).Leppäranta, M. 2011. The Drift of Sea Ice. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Unlike fast ice, which is "fastened" to a fixed object, drift ice is carried along by winds and , hence its name. When drift ice is driven together into a large single mass (>70% coverage), it is called pack ice.WMO Sea-Ice Nomenclature Wind and currents can pile up that ice to form ridges up to dozens of metres in thickness. These represent a challenge for and offshore structures operating in cold oceans and seas.
Drift ice consists of , individual pieces of sea ice or more across. Floes are classified according to size: small – to ; medium – to ; big – to ; vast – to ; and giant – more than .NSIDC All About Sea IceEnvironment Canada Ice Glossary
Drift ice affects:
Drift ice can exert tremendous forces when rammed against structures, and can shear off rudders and propellers from ships and strong structures anchored to the shore, such as piers. These structures must be retractable or removable to avoid damage. Similarly, ships can get stuck between drift ice floes.
The two major ice packs are the Arctic ice pack and the Antarctic ice pack. The most important areas of pack ice are the polar ice packs formed from seawater in the Earth's : the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean. Polar packs significantly change their size during seasonal changes of the year. Because of vast amounts of water added to or removed from the oceans and atmosphere, the behavior of polar ice packs has a significant impact on global changes in climate.
Seasonal ice drift in the Sea of Okhotsk by the northern coast of Hokkaidō, Japan, has become a tourist attraction, "A Port's Ice Is Thinning, and So Is Its Tourist Trade", The New York Times, March 14, 2006. and is one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan. The Sea of Okhotsk is the southernmost area in the Northern Hemisphere where drift ice may be observed.
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