The impact of oil spills on Arctic water and ice was investigated in 1978 on three test plots on the drifting station North Pole 22 when it was 115 to 250 nautical miles north of Canada and Alaska. Oil products spilled on the surface of snow and ice were found to raise the surface temperature in spring to 5.3°C. The melting of the snow and ice cover was found to be more rapid in polluted plots than in clean plots, with the acceleration greatest in a plot polluted with crude oil and smallest with gasoline. These effects apply only to the particular conditions in the area of investigation. Similar tests elsewhere in the Arctic may yield a more generalized model.