Abstract:
The Ross Sea Iceberg Project aims to determine the distribution, sources, movement and sizes of icebergs in the Ross Sea. These characteristics have previously not been well known but are important because icebergs are a significant part of both the Antarctic marine environment and the mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet which effect the global environment. Icebergs are also a major natural
... hazard. Field work on the project was completed in the 1988/89 field season after two seasons of ground-based work (1983/84, 1984/85) and three other years of monitoring (1985-1988). The publications provide information to the work and results and conclusions. Oblique aerial photography was completed from RNZAF C-130 aircrafts flying at 2400m with additional photography on an opportunity basis in the pack ice zone between Ross, Beaufort, Franklin and Coulman Islands and north to Cape Adare. The scientific objectives of this programme were to 1) monitor the distribution of bergs in known locations and elsewhere in the Ross Sea, 2) to monitor the quantity and distribution of bergs in the pack ice zone, particularly across the main iceberg drift paths and up current of McMurdo Sound and 3) to determine movement patterns of bergs by comparison with previous years' photographs. 
