“If we don’t succeed...”. An attempt at studying physical properties of ice in the Central Arctic: 1937-1938

Studies of sea ice physical properties, including its mechanical characteristics, became an important issue during the Arctic exploration in the late 1930s. The article describes an attempt to investigate ice properties of the central Arctic, which took place in 1937–1938 in connection with the drifting station North Pole-1. This work was initiated by a well-known physicist prof. Boris Petrovich Weinberg (1871–1942) who was a consultant of All-Union Arctic Institute. The article covers in detail the delivery of ice floe from Papanin’s camp and the conference at the Arctic Institute conducted to mark the ice floe investigation and results. The reasons for a failure in the obtaining information about ice properties in the Central Arctic are discussed.

B.P.Weinberg, Papanin’s team, sea ice, ice floe, mechanical properties of ice, Central Arctic