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Observations of double arch formation in the Bering Strait
Author(s) -
Torgerson Lenora J.,
Stringer William J.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl012i010p00677
Subject(s) - geology , arch , oceanography , climatology , current (fluid) , geography , archaeology
During the time that ice is present in the Bering Strait, it is constantly moving, both northward and southward, subject to wind and current stresses. There were, however, several times in the last decade when the ice was prevented from travelling through the Strait. The blockage of ice was due to the formation of fairly stable double arches that extended across the Strait. Six episodes of double arch formation, resulting in ice blockage in the Bering Strait, were recorded on NOAA satellite imagery spanning the last eleven years; one additional episode was seen on Landsat imagery. All of the incidences of double arching occurred between February and May. In the most extreme case the arches prevented the southward flow of ice through the Strait for at least 27 days during April and May 1980.