View source for Iceblink

{{Short description|White light caused by reflection of an ice field}}
[[File:ForsterWEB72.jpg|thumb|''Ice Islands with ice blink'', watercolour by [[Georg Forster]], made 1773 during the [[second voyage of James Cook]]|alt=Painting of a ship with sails traversing a rough sea with icerbergs. A white glow, the iceblink, fills the sky.]]

'''Iceblink''' is a white light seen near the [[horizon]], especially on the underside of low clouds, <ref name="Athropolis" /> resulting from [[Reflection (physics)|reflection]] of light off an [[ice field]] immediately beyond. The iceblink was used by both [[Inuit]] and explorers looking for the [[Northwest Passage]] to help them navigate safely as it indicates ice beyond the horizon.<ref name="Athropolis">{{cite web |url=http://www.athropolis.com/arctic-facts/fact-ice-blink.htm |title=Ice blink |work=Athropolis |year=2005 |accessdate=Sep 3, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/oapen-20.500.12657-57501/page/n9/mode/2up |title=Ice Blink - Navigating Northern Environmental History |date=2017 }}</ref> Its inverse phenomenon is [[water sky]]. The iceblink can be observed in both polar regions, being observed by Inuit in the [[Arctic]] and by many expeditions to [[Antarctica]], including both the [[Ross expedition|James Ross]] and [[Terra Nova Expedition|Terra Nova]] expeditions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Palin |first=Michael |title=Erebus: the story of a ship |date=2019 |publisher=Arrow Books |isbn=978-1-78475-857-8 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Ponting |first=Herbert |title=English:  Photo captioned "Ice Blink over the Barrier", Herbert Ponting, Terra Nova Expedition, Antarctica. Published in Scott's Last Expedition, Sir Robert Falcon Scott, 1913. |date=1911 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_Blink_over_the_Barrier.jpg |access-date=2025-03-08}}</ref>

Iceblink has been misinterpreted by navigators as mountains. [[John Ross (Royal Navy officer)|John Ross]] made this error when searching for the Northwest Passage in 1818. Whilst in the [[Lancaster Sound]], he misidentified iceblink as a new "mountain range" that he named the [[Fata Morgana (mirage)#Croker Mountains|Croker Mountains]], with the ensuing disagreements with his officers and the wider controversy costing him much of his reputation.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=John Ross - The Arctic and More - 19th Century - Pathfinders and Passageways |url=https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/lac-bac/explorers/www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/explorers/h24-1810-e.html |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=epe.lac-bac.gc.ca}}</ref>

[[File:Ice Blink over the Barrier.jpg|alt=A black and white photograph of the ocean without waves. A white glow, the iceblink, fills the sky.|thumb|Ice blink captured by [[Herbert Ponting]] in 1913]]

==References==
<references/>

{{Nuttall|title=Ice blink}}

[[Category:Atmospheric optical phenomena]]
[[Category:Geography of the Arctic]]
[[Category:Geography of Antarctica]]


{{Antarctica-stub}}
{{arctic-stub}}
{{climate-stub}}