Winter Operations : March 1970 / Norbert W. O'Hara ... [et al.].

The second ice pack was lying approximately 2 miles southwest of the South
Haven piers. This field consisted of pancake ice 1-6 feet in diameter, with
well developed peripheral walls.l The ice, starting from about one-half mile
offshore, ranged to the west, then curved around to the south over a distance
of approximately 2 miles. The width of the field was between 100 and 200 yards.1
The southern boundry was sharply defined, but the northern boundry was difficult
to ascertain. This was due to the gradual increase in frequency of the ice
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pieces from north to south. A few scattered pieces of ice were found immediately south of the pack. Sand appeared in about 50% of these ice pieces.3
The third, and last, ice field was located around the Palisades plant site.
This pack extended from the beach to about 2 miles offshore, approximately 2 miles
to the north, and to the horizon in the south. This ice was loosely packed, with
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an average of about 25 feet between groups of closely packed ice pieces. Several
of these groups were about the size of a football field. Wave height outside the
pack was about 2 feet. But inside the pack there were no waves, although there
was a residual swell. Sand appeared in about 10% of these ice pieces.
Large irregular bluffs, perhaps as high as 8 feet in places, were seen at
the Palisades plant site. These bluffs contained sand, with distinct strata
formed by higher densities of sand (not visible in photographs).
At the Cook plant site the ice bluff was not prominent. Several yards of
tightly packed pack ice separated the bluff remnants from open water. None of
the ice around the Cook plant appeared to hold much sand. However, the conditions
for observation were not optimal.6
From the Cook site the R/V MYSIS cruised southwest to the Bailly plant. No
ice was observed to the west of the plant. 7 Bluff remnants containing sand were
seen to the east of the plant, separated from the outfall by several hundred
yards of bare beach. Several small fishing craft were in the vicinity of the
plant, two of them directly adacent to the outfall19
plant, two of them directly adjacent to the outfall.

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