Amazing Striped Icebergs

An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water.

Icebergs are monitored worldwide by the U.S. National Ice Center (NIC), established in 1995, which produces analyses and forecasts of Arctic, Antarctic, Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay ice conditions. More than 95% of the data used in its sea ice analyses are derived from the remote sensors on polar-orbiting satellites that survey these remote regions of the Earth.

Iceberg B15, which calved from the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000 and initially had an area of 11,000 km², was the largest iceberg ever recorded. It broke apart in November 2002. The largest remaining piece of it, Iceberg B-15A, with an area of 3,000 km², was still the largest iceberg on Earth until it ran aground and split into several pieces October 27, 2005. It has been determined that the cause of the breakup was an ocean swell generated by an Alaskan storm 6 days earlier and 13,500 kilometers (8,370 miles) away.

Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions.

• Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form.
• When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe.
• Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.

Frozen Wave

Antarctica Frozen Wave Pictures - Nature is amazing! The water froze the instant the wave broke through the ice. That's what it is like in Antarctica where it is the coldest weather in decades. Water freezes the instant it comes in contact with the air. The temperature of the water is already some degrees below freezing. Just look at how the wave froze in mid-air!!!