'Great White Sea Monsters'

Two Adelie Penguins Hiding From The Leopard Seal

An Iceberg is a floating mass of freshwater ice that has broken from the seaward end of a glacier or a polar ice sheet. Icebergs are typically found in open seas, especially around Greenland and Antarctica.

They form mostly during the spring and summer, when warmer weather increases the rate of calving (separation) of icebergs at the boundaries of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and smaller outlying glaciers.

Icebergs of the Antarctic are not only far more abundant but are of enormous dimensions compared with those in the Arctic. Ninety-three percent of the world's mass of icebergs is found surrounding the Antarctic

Usually around 1/8th of an iceberg is above the waterline. That part consists of snow, which is not very compact. The ice in the cold core is very compact (and thus relatively heavy) and keeps 7/8ths of the iceberg under water. The temperature in the core is constant: between -15 and -20 degr. Centigrade.

Icebergs are mostly white because the ice is full of tiny air bubbles. The bubble surfaces reflect white light giving the iceberg an overall white appearance. Ice that is bubble free has a blue tint which is due to the same light phenomenon that tints the sky.

The blueish streaks of clear, bubble free ice often seen in icebergs results from the refreezing of meltwater which fills crevasses formed in the glacier as it creeps over land. The ice is blue because of the natural light scattering characteristics of pure ice. Occasionally airborne dust or dirt eroded from land ends up on the glacier surface eventually forming a noticeably darkened brown or black layer (in any orientation) within the ice of a floating iceberg.

For those who wish to look beyond the beauty of icebergs there are many things to look for which can make iceberg watching more interesting. Besides estimating the iceberg's size and shape there are many features which may be noted. Coloured streaks, caves and tunnels, old and new waterline notches, even objects such as boulders or birds are seen on icebergs. Even more spectacular is the occasion of an iceberg calving and rolling which can often be heard from a good distance.

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