One of the most distinct characteristics of the sea ice off Canada's east coast is its dynamic movement in response to atmospheric and oceanic forcing. The predominant NW winds and the strong southwards flowing Labrador Current moves locally-formed ice and ice formed at higher latitudes rapidly southwards until it is consumed by the warm waters around the Grand Banks. Icebergs that calve from glaciers in northern Baffin Bay move south along the Labrador coast with the pack ice. They present a major hazard to marine shipping and offshore operations.
The Grand Banks, near Newfoundland, is a relatively shallow bathymetric feature located southeast of Newfoundland on the continental shelf. Water depths reach to 200 m. The region is particularly known as a rich fishing ground but it is also an area of oil and gas exploration as well as being part of major transatlantic shipping routes.
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Greenan, B. J. W. and S. J. Prinsenberg. 1998. "Wind Forcing of Ice Cover in the Labrador Shelf Marginal Ice Zone"
Peterson I. K., S. J. Prinsenberg, and P. Langille. 2000. Sea Ice Fluctuations in the Western Labrador Sea (1963-1998)
van der Baaren, A. and S. J. Prinsenberg. 2000. Labrador Shelf and Gulf of St. Lawrence Sea Ice Program, 1995-1998
van der Baaren, A. and S. J. Prinsenberg. 2001. Satellite-tracked Ice Beacon Program, 1999-2001
Yao, T. 2000. Assimilating Sea Surface Temperature Data into an Ice-Ocean Model of the Labrador Sea
Yao, T., C. L. Tang, T. Carrieres, and D. H. Tran. 2000. "Verification of a coupled ice ocean forecasting system for the Newfoundland shelf"
Yao, T., C. L. Tang, and I. Peterson. 2000. "Modeling the seasonal variation of sea ice in the Labrador Sea with a coupled multicategory ice model and the Princeton ocean model"
Peterson, I. K. 2005. "Large tabular icebergs and ice islands off eastern Canada in 2001-2003 and their probable source"
Wu, Y., I. K. Peterson, C. L. Tang, T. Platt, S. Sathyendranath, and C. Fuentes-Yaco. 2007. "The impact of sea-ice on the initiation of spring bloom on the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves"
