Stress measurements in landfast sea ice in Van Mijenfjorden,Svalbard.: A survey of internal stress in landfast sea ice winter 2014.

Abstract

During the winter 2014 a fieldwork was conducted in Van Mijenfjorden, Svalbard. The main objective of the fieldwork was to investigate stress development in confined landfast ice. Investigation were performed at two sites: on the landfast ice close to a hinge zone and on the landfast ice 200 meters from shore. Three stress sensors were installed in a rosette with a fourth sensor at a different depth to observe the stress distribution in the ice at each site. Tiltmeters measured inclination of the ice at both sites. It was recorded maximum stress of 162 kPa close to the hinge zone. In addition were 4 stress peaks over 90 kPa registred. Bending of the ice contributed strongly to stress development. The direction of the stress was parallell with the shore. The maximum stress 200 meters further out was 37.7 kPa. This event correlated with a temperature increase of the ice surface which most likely was due to flooding. Stress at sites correlated well with the tidal cyclus.