  Hydroelastic interactions between regular water waves and floating freshwater
ice are investigated using laboratory experiments for a range of incident wave
periods and steepnesses. It is shown that only incident waves with sufficiently
long period and large steepness break up the ice cover, and that the extent of
breakup increases with increasing period and steepness. Further, it is shown
that an increasing proportion of the incident wave propagates through the
ice-covered water as period and steepness increase, indicating the existence of
a positive feedback loop between ice breakup and increased wave propagation.
