![]() ![]() This marked the fifth time since 1983, when the IIP began routinely using aircraft equipped with radars to detect icebergs, that icebergs didn't reach the Grand Banks. These modeled icebergs were only present for 25 days in May. Last year, IIP reported that only three icebergs, not including the small "bergy bits" or "growlers," were modeled to have drifted south of 48 degrees North latitude, and none were actually sighted or detected remotely. Second, they measure the length of the season, which is measured in the number of days that icebergs-either modeled or sighted-were present south of 48 degrees North latitude. First, they measure the number of icebergs first sighted or detected south of 48 degrees North latitude, which includes icebergs first sighted or detected further north that drift south. ![]() According to the International Ice Patrol's 2011 Annual Report, the IIP uses two traditional measurements to determine the severity of each ice season. This collaborative effort uses ships, aircraft and satellites to identify icebergs in the area and provide charts for fisheries, ship traffic and offshore operators to help predict icebergs passing south of 48 degrees North latitude. A small piece of C19 (still 25 by 16 miles, or 40 by 25 kilometers in size) drifted for 10 years in the westward flowing Antarctic Coastal Current from the Ross Sea to Elephant Island, at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.īen Holt: Shortly after the Titanic accident, a joint service, called the International Ice Patrol, was started between the United States and Canada to monitor icebergs entering the Grand Banks region. These icebergs are so massive they actually have their own Wikipedia pages! These giants break into smaller pieces. Iceberg B15, which broke off in 2000, had a surface area of about 4,250 square miles (11,000 square kilometers) while Iceberg C19 in 2002 had a surface area of about 2,125 square miles (5,500 square kilometers). The largest icebergs in the last decade broke off of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Iceberg sightings have been reported off the coast of Brazil. However, some large tabular icebergs drift to the north out of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Warmer temperatures in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current lead to a rapid melting and decay of icebergs. In the Ross and Weddell seas, large gyres move them northwards into the Antarctic Circumpolar Currrent, which carries them eastwards. After calving from the continental ice sheet, the icebergs drift westward with the Antarctic Coastal Current. Michael Schodlok: Icebergs are found throughout the Southern Ocean but mainly south of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Greenland icebergs get carried southward along the Labrador Current, which passes around Newfoundland and into the Grand Banks area of southeastern Canada and New England, which is where the Titanic met its demise when it rammed into an iceberg of sufficient size and force to puncture its hull. These smaller icebergs, sometimes called "bergy bits" and "growlers," are much more difficult to detect than the extensive tabular icebergs, and thus pose a much greater threat to ships and offshore operations. In the Arctic region, Greenland glaciers are the primary source, generally forming considerably smaller icebergs than those found in Antarctica. Where do icebergs form, and how big can they get?īen Holt: Earth's largest icebergs are formed from the extensive ice shelves in Antarctica-giant, so-called "tabular" icebergs. They may get stuck locally by the ocean bottom or even by surrounding sea ice. These ice extensions, called tongues and shelves, lose strength as they extend further from their attachments to land, eventually breaking off in a process called 'calving' to form icebergs.īen Holt: Once they form, icebergs are moved by winds and currents, drifting either north or south toward Earth's equator, where they eventually melt. ![]() What are icebergs and how are they formed?īen Holt: Icebergs form from the natural calving of glaciers and Earth's great ice sheets, which extend into the ocean. We asked JPL research scientists Ben Holt and Michael Schodlok to attempt to remove some of the mystery shrouding these floating flotillas of ice. Icebergs are a natural and beautiful part of Earth's cryosphere, and are closely monitored and studied by scientists around the world. ![]()
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