The Morphometry of Ice Scours in the South-Western Part of the Kara Sea

The ice-gouging topography of the southwestern part of the Kara Sea bed is a result of the impact of icebergs and sea ice. During 52 cruise of the R/V Akademik Nikolaj Strakhov using a multibeam echo sounder we collected a representative data of key parameters of ice scours (location, orientation, depth, width) for the first time, which allows us to draw conclusions on a regional scale. We revealed regularities in the distribution of the ice scours both in space and in depth and their density in different parts of the seabed. It was revealed that the maximum dimensions of the ice scours decrease with the distance from the sources of iceberg calving from NW to SE. The orientation of the ice scours correlates with the main drift directions of the icebergs. Most of the ice scours are located at depths up to 220 m and could have formed both at modern and at lower sea level (in post-glacial time). We identified a high degree of the seabed transformation by ice-gouging processes in the southwestern part of the Kara Sea.