The ice foot is a shelf of
ice attached to the land that forms when the tides rise and
fall in very low temperatures. A thin layer of water is
left behind which ends up smoothing the transition between land
and sea. The large slabs of ice in the bottom right of the picture
were attached to the land, but are now breaking away, but are
currently held in place by rocks that come near to the surface.
When the sea-ice breaks out coasts
have a shelf all around them which can give a nice smooth walking
surface, snow permitting of course. The only problem is that
you have to follow the line of the coast to get anywhere -
or go the more direct but more rugged route.
Note the yellow/green colouration to the
bottom of the broken ice pieces, this is a result of
phytoplankton that grow under the ice during the winter
months, this algae is frequently grazed on by juvenile and
overwintering krill.
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