VARIABILITY OF ICE CONDITIONS IN THE KARA SEA IN THE FALL AND WINTER

V. P. Gavrilo and I. E. Frolov

The variability of ice conditions in the Kara Sea in 1965—1988 is considered by means of physicostatistical analysis of calculated characteristics of residual one-year ice thickness and the variability of its flexural strength. Observation series of air temperature, temperature, salinity, and thickness of the active sea layer, and snow depth were used as initial data in calculating the parameters of corresponding thermal and dynamic ice phenomena and characteristics of mechanical behavior of thin, medium, and thick first-year ice affected by external forces. The variability of ice conditions is illustrated by climatic and extreme values of the above-mentioned characteristics calculated along the northeastward section stretching for about 1500 km from the corresponding ice edges to the boundary of the Kara Sea and the Arctic Ocean.