SEA-ICE FLEXURAL RIGIDITY - A COMPARISON OF METHODS

Mechanical properties of sea ice are typically determined from a stati c test using the physical and chemical properties of small samples. A series of measurements of flexural properties of multi-year sea ice we re made recently using both a static and a dynamic geophysical techniq ue. This paper presents the results of a comparison between the ice fl exural rigidity determined by the two methods. The dynamic method is s hown to yield a very precise determination of the flexural rigidity ba sed upon the propagation of low frequency (1 to 70 Hz) waves. Values d etermined by the static method are shown to be consistently higher, at a high level of significance.