Natural History Wanderings

NASA reports

Floating fragments of sea ice spun into intricate patterns as ocean currents carried them south along Greenland’s east coast in spring 2024. The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured a moment of this dizzying journey on June 4, 2024. 

Much of the ice has likely drifted a great distance to get to this point. The Fram Strait, a 450-kilometer (280-mile)-wide passage between Greenland and Svalbard (to the north, out of view), connects the Arctic Ocean with the Greenland Sea. It serves as the primary route for sea ice out of the Arctic. After moving through the Fram Strait, ice is swept south along the Greenland coast by the East Greenland Current.

Read more at Sea Ice Takes a Spin Down the Coast