Estimates of certain physical and mechanical characteristics of ice in the Ob’ Bay

Abstract

The ice cover of the Gulf of Ob is formed in an extended zone, where the sea and fresh waters are mixed. This study aims to evaluate certain physical and mechanical characteristics of such ice. It examines data on a complex of physical and mechanical fast ice characteristics in the Ob’ Bay, obtained in the course of field studies over the last 30 years. The total amount of data available to the team of authors exceeds 200 cores, sampled in the Ob’ Bay (from Novy Port to the boundary between the Bay and the Kara Sea) in different years and in different months of the ice season.Processed data on ice temperature are presented, as well as information on the evolution of integral ice temperature during ice season. The change of integral ice salinity in the Ob’ Bay with geographic latitude is identified and shown, and the function approximating this change is given.The estimates of average density and porosity of ice by thickness are presented. The effect of mineral inclusions on the increase in ice density is considered.An analysis was carried out of the correspondence between the field data on fresh and saline ice sample strength in uniaxial compression (with the load application parallel to the ice cover surface) with theoretical strength estimates from Russian and foreign scientific and methodological literature, based on the data obtained on physical and mechanical ice characteristics in the Ob’ Bay. A generalized estimate of the saline ice strength limit in the Ob’ Bay, obtained in uniaxial compression parallel to the surface of ice accumulation is given, as well as its approximation by lognormal distribution.The results obtained in the analysis of the strength characteristics of ice in the Gulf of Ob can be used for practical purposes. The results may also prove useful in terms of contribution to theoretical knowledge on the experimental mechanics of ice in desalinated water bodies.