| Term: | Floe |
| Definition: |
An accumulation of frazil flocs (also known as a 'pan') or a single piece of broken ice. NOAAHydrology
Separate patch of floating ice or flat sheet of unbroken pack ice, greater than 20 meters (22 yards) across. NSIDCCryosphere A floe is any contiguous piece of sea ice. Floes may be described in terms of several size categories: Giant: over 10km across Vast: 2-10km across Big: 500-2000m across Medium: 100-500m across Small: 20-100m across. Floes less than 20m across are called cake ice ASPECT2012 Any relatively flat piece of sea ice 20 m or more across. Floes are subdivided according to horizontal extent as follows: Giant: Over 10 km across, Vast: 2 to 10 km across, Big: 500 to 2000 m across, Medium: 100 to 500 m across, Small: 20 to 100 m across. Bushuyev Any relatively flat, isolated piece of sea ice 65 ft (= 20 m) or more across. Floes are subdivided according to horizontal extent as follows: GIANT: over 5.5 n mi (10 km) VAST: 1-5.5 n mi (2-10 kin) MEDIUM: 110-550 yd (100-500 m) SMALL: 22-110 yd (20-100 m) WMOSeaIce Sea ice terminology. Describes any relatively flat piece of ice that is 20 m or more across. Floes are subdivided according to their horizontal extent, as follows: Small: 20 m - 100 m across, Medium: 101 m - 500 m across, Big: 501 m - 2000 m across, Vast: 2001 m - 10 km across, Giant: Greater than 10 km across. ECCCanada Any relatively flat piece of ice 20 m or more across. It may be composed of several fragments bonded together. AMSglossary A piece of floating ice other than fast ice or glacier ice. Floes are subdivided by size as follows: ice cakes are less than 20 m across; small floes 20-100 m; medium floes 100-500 m; big floes 500 m-2 km; vast floes 2-10 km; giant floes over 10 km. SPRI GCW |