Glossary
The English version of our glossary is currently under construction and will be regularly updated.
Finger rafting
A type of sea-ice overlapping in which parts of two ice floes are forced over and under one another in an alternating, “fingerlike” pattern.
This process occurs when two sheets of ice approach one another and one smoothly slides over the other (overthrust), which leads to a local increase in sea-ice thickness. The term “finger rafting” describes the systematic, alternating pattern of overthrust and underthrust involved in the process, one reminiscent of the interlocking fingers in clasped hands. Each floe alternatively extends its “fingers” above and below the other. Frequently occurs in nilas and grey ice.