floes
Polar sea chunks
Floes is the plural of floe, a sheet of floating ice.
Ice floes drift on polar seas, ranging from small fragments to vast expanses miles across.
The ship navigated carefully between the floes.
The word appears almost exclusively in descriptions of arctic or antarctic waters.
Floating glacial fragment
- calvingIce mass separation
- glacierSlow-moving ice mass
- crevasseDeep glacial fissure
- ice shelfFloating glacial extension
berg · tabular · firn · serac · ice cap · Antarctica · Greenland · ice sheet
Consolidated floating sea ice
- sea iceFrozen ocean surface
- polar bearsWhite Arctic marine mammals
- walrusTusked Arctic marine mammal
- narwhalSpiral-tusked Arctic whale
beluga · seals · Arctic Ocean · Inuit · icebreaker · leads · ice field · drift ice
Solidified by extreme cold
- whiteAbsence of pigment
- flatLacking vertical variation
- floatingStaying atop liquid
- massiveExtremely large and heavy
jagged · drifting · cracking · grinding · colliding · rafting · ridging · tilting
Return to liquid
- breakupRomantic relationship's termination
- climate changePlanetary atmospheric transformation
- sea level riseIncreasing ocean surface height
- warmingIncreasing in temperature
fragmentation · drifting · albedo · feedback loops · ice loss · meltwater · disintegration · shrinking
Designated ocean travel paths
- icebreakerTension-easing social activity
- TitanicIll-fated 1912 vessel
- lookoutWatcher or vista point
- hull damageHarm to vessel exterior
Northwest Passage · maritime · collision · drift · charting · ice patrol · vessel · voyage
iceberg
Floating glacial fragment
ice shelf · berg · tabular · firn · serac · ice cap · Antarctica · Greenland · ice sheet · glaciology
pack ice
Consolidated floating sea ice
- sea iceFrozen ocean surface
- polar bearsWhite Arctic marine mammals
- walrusTusked Arctic marine mammal
narwhal · beluga · seals · Arctic Ocean · Inuit · icebreaker · leads · ice field · drift ice · ice pack
frozen
Solidified by extreme cold
massive · jagged · drifting · cracking · grinding · colliding · rafting · ridging · tilting · submerged
thaw
Return to liquid
- breakupRomantic relationship's termination
- climate changePlanetary atmospheric transformation
- sea level riseIncreasing ocean surface height
warming · fragmentation · drifting · albedo · feedback loops · ice loss · meltwater · disintegration · shrinking · thinning
shipping lanes
Designated ocean travel paths
- icebreakerTension-easing social activity
- TitanicIll-fated 1912 vessel
- lookoutWatcher or vista point
hull damage · Northwest Passage · maritime · collision · drift · charting · ice patrol · vessel · voyage · sailing
floesicebergs
Floating masses of ice
glaciers · pack ice · ice sheets · ice shelves · bergs
floesopen water
Unobstructed body navigable freely
seawater · meltwater · liquid water · navigable waters · leads
- ice floeFloating polar mass