Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean and it's about 17 percent of the size of the Indian Ocean. In winter, most of this ocean, is covered by thick ice. Most of the ice is 6.6 feet thick and it can be 12-15 feet thick in some areas. Because there is snow on the top, the wind creates slopes, or hills, of snow on top. Sea ice, is also referred to as"pack ice". Individual pieces of pack ice are called "floes". Because small cracks open between floes, wind and currents push the floes around. In the summer, 50 percent of pack ice melts. But, pack ice is an important habitat for Arctic wildlife. Here are just some examples of how ice is used by wildlife: walruses and seals give birth on ice; polar bears venture on ice to hunt seals; algae growing on the underside of ice is eaten by shrimplike animals and other small creatures. Scientists and sailors have different names for different kinds of ice. "Multi-year ice" is ice that lasts for many years and doesn't completely melt in the summer. A "hummock" is a hill of broken ice. "Grease ice" is a thin, slushy film of floating ice. As the "grease ice" forms disks, these disks are called "pancake ice". As these "pancakes" bump against one and other, their edges form rims. A sea full of this ice looks like a "frozen jigsaw puzzle" according to The Ultimate Ocean-Pedia by Christina Wildson.