Meltin: The Iceberg

Antarctica's Largest Iceberg Is About to Die ... Near the Equator

They begin as part of a glacier, building for tens of thousands of years and slowly moving toward the ocean. Once an iceberg calves, it typically lasts for three to six years — shorter if it floats into warmer water.

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Waves wear away at the iceberg and crash it into other icebergs or land. Thawing and melting create crevasses cracks that may lead to further calving. Some icebergs simply melt away, while others collapse more violently. Some icebergs never move into warmer waters and may last 50 years or more.

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Ice algae may grow in-between ice crystals or on the underside of a berg, playing an important role in primary production and in the marine ecosystems. Small fish avoid predators by hiding in ice holes, while invertebrates come to feed on nearby krill. Seabirds may nest on icebergs as well. Extremely large icebergs, such as B and the more recent C , can negatively impact marine ecosystems. Large bergs can reduce the amount of sunlight hitting the water, thus decreasing the production of the phytoplankton that forms the base of the marine food web.

Stay Current

They also block the paths that penguins use to reach open water to find food. Adelie penguins dive off an iceberg near Paulet Island, Antarctica. Photo courtesy of Nick Russill via Flickr. Licensed under a Creative Commons 2. Icebergs near the coast of Antarctica scour, scrape, and gouge the seafloor. Increased calving as a result of shrinking winter sea ice will create more disturbances on the seabed, where the majority 80 percent of all Antarctic life occurs.

While some disturbances create space for a high diversity of organisms, scientists believe that an increase in iceberg action may actually decrease biodiversity. The well-known story of the RMS Titanic , which illustrates the hazards of icebergs, led to the formation of the International Ice Patrol. The Ice Patrol administered by the U.

Melting Icebergs

Coast Guard keeps a close watch over the area off the coast of Newfoundland, known as Iceberg Alley because of the high number of icebergs found in the waters. The Ice Patrol collects data from a variety of sources: It uses computer modeling and current information to predict the path of icebergs and warn ships via radio and the Internet.

While these precautions have reduced the number of incidents with icebergs, the risk still remains. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current tends to trap icebergs within the Southern Ocean, although some occasionally escape and enter shipping lanes in the southern Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Icebergs and sea ice do present a problem for research vessels and cruise ships within the Southern Ocean, however. Icebergs This site provides basic information and interesting facts about icebergs, shapes, sizes, and colors, the journey of an Arctic iceberg, dangers, and possible uses.

All About Icebergs

“With the world's growing interest in changing climatic conditions, Meltin: The Iceberg intends to give elementary aged school children a fun read on the impact . As global warming increases temperatures, more icebergs are calving from melting ice caps. Global warming is causing more icebergs to form, and these.

The site may be appropriate for upper elementary students as well as teachers. How Icebergs Work A six-part article providing an overview of iceberg basics, life cycle, statistics, ecology, and danger. National Ice Center, and other useful resources.

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NASA scientists reported that, after drifting for nearly 20 years, the largest iceberg ever to break away from Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf is about to disappear forever. The Ice Patrol administered by the U. Because water expands as it freezes, ice takes up more space has a greater volume than the liquid water does. Icebergs are made of freshwater. Some icebergs never move into warmer waters and may last 50 years or more.

Density of Ice This page explains the concept of density, provides an explanation of why ice is less dense than water, and why ice floats. Icebergs are Hotspots for Life This blog post discusses the ecosystem found around and on the underside of icebergs. The entire National Science Education Standards document can be read online or downloaded for free from the National Academies Press web site.

The following excerpt was taken from Chapter 6. For more information, see the Contributors page.

Iceberg Formation

Email Jessica at beyondpenguins msteacher. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Your email address will not be published. All About Icebergs Icebergs, like penguins and polar bears, are an iconic symbol of the polar regions.

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LINKS Icebergs This site provides basic information and interesting facts about icebergs, shapes, sizes, and colors, the journey of an Arctic iceberg, dangers, and possible uses. Teaching about icebergs can meet the Physical Science content standard for grades K-4 and K-4 Physical Science Properties of Objects and Materials Materials can exist in different states — solid, liquid, and gas. Some common materials, such as water, can be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling.

A mixture of substances often can be separated into the original substances using one or more of the characteristic properties. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Glaciers "flow" downhill at a very slow rate under the force of their own weight, eventually reaching the ocean. At the coast, the ice extends out beyond the land, floating on the water and forming an ice shelf.

Video: Huge melting iceberg threatens Greenland village

The weight of the ice combines with tidal motions raising and lowering the shelf to create fissures in the ice. Eventually, a chunk of ice will separate from the glacier, a process known as calving. This can be incredibly spectacular, with massive ice slabs splashing down into the ocean creating enormous waves. Other times, the newly formed iceberg simply floats away.

That's why icebergs are made from freshwater, not saltwater.

"Our Iceberg Is Melting" book report

Most icebergs are blue, the color of compressed glacial ice. A few rare Antarctic icebergs are a startling shade of green. These bergs formed at the bottom of thick Antarctic ice shelves, where they were in contact with seawater for centuries. Eventually, the ice shelf collapses. At first, the resulting icebergs look like any other. Once they start melting, though, some of them flip over.