shore lead

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

Image:NOAA Surveyor, 1977 sailing parallel to the ice pack.jpg in 1977.]]

A shore lead (or coastal lead) is an oceanographic term for a waterway opening between pack ice and shore. While the gap of water{{cite web|url=http://www.eoearth.org/article/Arctic_Ocean|title=Annual Ice|publisher=eoearth.org|accessdate=2008-10-30}} may be as narrow as a tide crack if closed by wind or currents, it can be as wide as {{convert|1000|ft|m}}. Its formation can be influenced by tidal action, or subsurface conditions, such as current and ocean floor.{{cite journal|last=Aufderheide|first=A.C. |author2=Pitzl, G. |date=1968|title=Observations on Ice Regions of the Arctic Ocean|journal=Arctic|publisher=ucalgary.ca|volume=23|issue=2|pages=135, 136|doi=10.14430/arctic3166|issn=0066-6963|oclc=183414927|url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic23-2-133.pdf}} Commonly, a shore lead is navigable by surface vessels.{{cite web|url=http://www.dbcp.noaa.gov/seashelp/HtmlIceGlossary.htm|title=Lead|publisher=dbcp.noaa.gov|accessdate=2008-10-30|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108181615/http://www.dbcp.noaa.gov/seashelp/HtmlIceGlossary.htm|archivedate=2009-01-08}}

An opening ("lead") between pack ice and fast ice is referred to as a flaw lead.