Flaw lead

{{short description|Waterway opening between pack ice and fast ice}}

Flaw lead is an oceanographic term for a waterway opening between pack ice and fast ice.{{cite web|url=http://www.dbcp.noaa.gov/seashelp/HtmlIceGlossary.htm|title=Lead|publisher=dbcp.noaa.gov|accessdate=2008-10-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108181615/http://www.dbcp.noaa.gov/seashelp/HtmlIceGlossary.htm|archive-date=2009-01-08|url-status=dead}} Flaw lead occurs annually at the time when central pack ice drifts from coastal ice, thereby creating the flaw. The process begins in autumn. Flaw leads can have interconnected polynyas. The Canadian government's Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study, through the University of Manitoba examines the physical changes and their effects on biological processes with flaw leads.{{cite web|url=http://216.70.123.96/images/uploads/CFL_English.pdf|title=Circumpolar Flaw Lead Study|last=Leitch|first=Dan|publisher=Government of Canada|accessdate=2008-10-30}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=http://www.ipy-cfl.ca/|title=Arctic Climate Change: Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study|date=2007|publisher=ipy-cfl.ca|accessdate=2008-10-30}}

A similar opening ("lead") can exist between pack ice and the shore, referred to as a shore lead.