DYNAMICS OF ICE FLOES IN SEA WAVES.

A single ice floe, when acted upon by ocean waves, will display all the usual rigid body motions (viz. heave, surge, sway, roll, pitch and yaw), but it will also bend and possibly break on each wave's profile. Measurements of these motions, carried out in the Bering Sea in February 1979 and off east Greenland in September 1979, are discussed in the context of theoretical modeling results from a numerical floating body analysis coupled to a simple thin plate scheme. A more elaborate finite element procedure is also mentioned briefly. The measurements compare favorably with the theory of all the collected data and indicate that, once significant (or extreme) wave heights are available at various locations within the pack, the motion and bending of local ice floes may be found.