carlos@jplpro.JPL.NASA.GOV (Carlos Carrion) (11/07/87)
Read in the paper this morning of an iceberg TWICE the size of Rhode Island breaking off from Antarctica. It broke off from the Ross Ice field, near the Bay of Whales where Byrd set up his Little America camp. It's so big that the Bay has been eliminated as a geological feature!! There have been studies in the past regarding icebergs being brought to LA offshore to supply water demands.... Well, here is out opportunity. Let me see....Hmmm...if we give every person in the LA area an icepick, and a small boat......... :-) But seriously folks...I know the Earth's atmosphere is getting warmer. Would this have anything to do with it or is the iceberg break off just an extraordinary event?? ========================================================================= Carlos Carrion, MS 301-250D, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA 91109 .. cit-vax!elroy!jpl-devvax!jplpro!carlos =========================================================================
clewis@lsuc.UUCP (Chris Lewis) (11/12/87)
In article <677@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> carlos@jplpro.JPL.NASA.GOV (Carlos Carrion) writes: >Read in the paper this morning of an iceberg TWICE the size of >Rhode Island breaking off from Antarctica. ... >... >But seriously folks...I know the Earth's atmosphere is getting warmer. >Would this have anything to do with it or is the iceberg break off >just an extraordinary event?? It might have something to do with it, but not specifically. The Antarctic's known for spawning enormous icebergs. I seem to remember reports of icebergs up to a hundred miles long getting spawned every once in a while (several years). Unlike most of the glacier calving in the north, where icebergs are often pieces that fall off land-born glaciers, Antarctic icebergs are often simply large areas of frozen ocean that snap off and drift away. Arctic icebergs get jostled around a lot (there's lots of islands and currents up there) and break up more quickly too.
rab@mimsy.UUCP (11/13/87)
In article <677@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> carlos@jplpro.JPL.NASA.GOV (Carlos Carrion) writes: >Read in the paper this morning of an iceberg TWICE the size of >Rhode Island breaking off from Antarctica. > ... >But seriously folks...I know the Earth's atmosphere is getting warmer. >Would this have anything to do with it or is the iceberg break off >just an extraordinary event?? Actually this isn't extraordinary at all. If fact this one isn't even especially large. A few years ago I read about an iceberg larger than Belgium that had broken off the Ross ice shelf. Icebergs in Antarctica tend to be much larger than Arctic icebergs. In the north glaciers tend to `calf' small, irregular icebergs right where the land meets the sea. In the Antarctic the ice doesn't breakup until it is well out to sea, when a large piece of the ice shelf breaks loose. disclaimer: This is just from what I have read, I have never actually been to Antarctica.