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We arrived this morning at the entrance to Iceberg Alley as planned.
Iceberg Alley is formed by two rows of icebergs which are grounded in about 100-200m of water. There is a row to the east, then the Alley (about 5 miles wide) and then a row of bergs to the west. Iceberg Alley runs all the way up to Kista Strait and Mawson station. The ice between the two rows has not seen enough storms this year to break into small enough bits to fit between the bergs to the west, and so is still full of pack ice initially, and then 20nm of mostly unbroken fast ice. Initially we encountered loose pack ice, then broken fast ice floes and then fast ice. The fast ice was around 100 - 110 cm thick with a 20-30cm layer of snow on top. We were able to break the fast ice but only slowly and ramming was required. To the west of Iceberg Alley is an open polynya (a polynya is an area of ocean that never freezes over). The polynya is mostly unsurveyed, however the Chief Officer noted that the east edge, close to Iceberg Alley is surveyed and currently open water.
Subsequently we have managed to sneak down the side of the polynya and reduce the icebreaking from around 20nm to 14nm.
We are currently making our way slowly through 80-100cm thick fast ice.
Cheers
Andy and Amy
FTM
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.