Iceberg

For other uses, see Iceberg (disambiguation).
An iceberg in the Arctic Ocean
Icebergs in Greenland as filmed by NASA in 2015

An iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 meters (16 yards) long[1] that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water.[2][3] Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits".[4][5] Much of an iceberg is below the water's surface, which led to the expression "tip of the iceberg" to illustrate a small part of a larger unseen issue. Icebergs are considered a serious maritime hazard.

Icebergs vary considerably in size and shape. Icebergs that calve from glaciers in Greenland are often irregularly shaped while Antarctic ice shelves often produce large tabular (table top) icebergs. The largest iceberg in recent history, named B-15, was measured at nearly 300 by 40 kilometres (186 by 25 mi) in 2000.[6] The largest iceberg on record was an Antarctic tabular iceberg measuring 335 by 97 kilometres (208 by 60 mi) sighted 240 kilometres (150 mi) west of Scott Island, in the South Pacific Ocean, by the USS Glacier on November 12, 1956. This iceberg was larger than Belgium.[7]

  1. ^ "Iceberg Formation: International Ice Patrol" (PDF). International Ice Patrol. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  2. ^ "iceberg". Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  3. ^ "Common Misconceptions about Icebergs and Glaciers". Ohio State University. 19 July 2011. Icebergs float in salt water, but they are formed from freshwater glacial ice.
  4. ^ "bergy bit". National Snow and Ice Data Center. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  5. ^ "Bergy Bits and Growlers". www.athropolis.com. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  6. ^ Remy, J.-P.; Becquevort, S.; Haskell, T.G.; Tison, J.-L. (December 2008). "Impact of the B-15 iceberg "stranding event" on the physical and biological properties of sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica". Antarctic Science. 20 (6): 593–604. Bibcode:2008AntSc..20..593R. doi:10.1017/S0954102008001284. ISSN 0954-1020. S2CID 73604210.
  7. ^ "Antarctica shed a 208-mile-long berg in 1956". The Polar Times. 43: 18. 1956. Archived from the original on 2006-05-22 – via USA Today.