| Term: | Fracturing |
| Definition: | Any break or rupture through close ice, compact ice, consolidated ice, fast ice, or a single floe resulting from shears and deformation processes. The fracture may contain brash ice and be covered with nilas or young ice. The length may vary from a few meters to several tens of kilometers. In hydrologic terms, deformation process whereby ice is permanently deformed, and fracture occurs. |