Free flowing, giant icebergs provide the world’s greatest show on earth of living sculpture. Combining the action of wind, wave and temperature, the ever changing play of light creates a spectacle beyond compare.
Ice, that has formed at the polar caps, eventually breaks off from either glaciers, or ice shelves. This calving from the mother lode is the beginning pf a long journey towards the equator.
The ice is slowly eroded through the action of the wind and waves and changing temperature. These magnificent giants are swept along by the ocean currents, until they reach warmer waters and eventually thaw, dripping rich nutrients into the water. As the ice melts, spectacular shapes begin to form.
Approximately 40,000 medium to large sized icebergs calve every year, in Greenland alone. Many last up to a year. On average, icebergs move at 7 kph, are one – two thousands tons in weight and about the size of 15 storey buildings. Before an iceberg completely disappears it will travel many thousands of kilometers. Icebergs have been sighted off the coast of Bermuda and Ireland, but these sightings are very rare .
To witness an iceberg calving, or performing a spectacular roll, is a sight not easily forgotten. However, it’s not only dangerous, but daunting, to be in a small boat near a giant office block of ice, soaring over the top of you. There are also several office blocks below – a ratio of 1/8th only, shows above the surface of the water.
Not only is the instability of the icebergs a threat, the amount of dazzling glare and reflections created by the interaction of ice and sun, create a real danger.
The largest Northern Hemisphere iceberg ever recorded was 13km long, 6km wide and had a freeboard (height above the water) of around 20 meters. Its estimated weight was 9 billion tons, or sufficient water for every person on planet earth, to drink a litre a day for 4 years.
Icebergs in the Southern Hemisphere make their northern cousins seem like miniature pimples. An iceberg covering an area of 6350 sq kilometers broke off the Ross ice-shelf in 1987. It was estimated to weight around 1.4 trillion tons and could have supplied 240 tons of pure drinking water.
After the sinking of the Titanic near Newfoundland in 1912, twelve countries formed the International Ice Patrol. Ice giants over 5,400 sq feet are tracked by satellite and warnings forwarded to shipping.
You can see some more wonderful shapes of icebergs at our sister site http://tropicpost.com
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Tags: environment, giant sculptures, greatest show on earth, iceberg sculpture, icebergs, melting icebergs, the life of an iceberg, weird shapes in icebergs
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August 11th, 2009 at 1:06 am
Giant Living Sculptures…
Icebergs are nature’s giant living sculptures in the wild, creating fantastic shapes that are in constant motion and change. Combined with the play of light it is the greatest show on earth….