Fast Ice
fast ice
[¦fast ¦īs]Fast Ice
the basic form of stationary sea ice cover. The greatest accumulations of fast ice are found in the arctic and antarctic, along the rugged coasts and between islands. It forms in the late fall and remains stationary until the beginning of summer because it is frozen to the shore; in shallow water it is fastened to the bottom as well. During the winter, fast ice usually covers bays, straits, and expanses of water for several hundred km in the East Siberian Sea, Laptev Sea, and elsewhere; the ice is 2.5 to 3 m thick, sometimes thicker. In higher latitudes, fast ice lasts for several years and may become 10 to 20 m thick.