Posted on 01/10/2005 8:09:30 PM PST by bitt
'It is an event so large that the best seat in the house is in space: a massive iceberg is on a collision course with a floating glacier near the McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica. NASA satellites have witnessed the 100-mile-long B-15A iceberg moving steadily towards the Drygalski Ice Tongue. Though the iceberg's pace has slowed in recent days, NASA scientists expect a collision to occur no later than January 15, 2005.'
(Excerpt) Read more at nasa.gov ...
Hey, let's send Dan Rather down there to get some live pictures!
Is that a good thing?
"It's a clash of the titans, a radical and uncommon event," says Robert Bindshadler, a researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and if the two giant slabs of ice collide, we could see one of the best demolition derbies on the planet. "Even a 'tap' from a giant can be powerful. It will certainly be a blow far larger than anything else the ice tongue has ever experienced," says Bindshadler.
When the iceberg and the ice tongue collide, the impact will likely "dent their bumpers," says Bindshadler. The edges could crumple and ice could pile or drift into the Ross Sea. But if the B-15A iceberg picks up enough speed before the two collide, the results could be more spectacular. The Drygalski Ice Tongue could break off.
The ice tongue is thick ice that grows out over the Ross Sea from a land-based glacier on Antarctica's Scott Coast. "Ice tongues do break off on occasion," says Bindshadler. "It would only take one thin area on the ice tongue to make it break off." There's no guarantee that the Drygalski Ice Tongue will break off, but "this is the toughest blow it has ever had to deal with."
"That Ice tongue has no reason for staying intact" says Waleed Abdalati, researcher with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, but Bindshadler points out, it may not break up either. The results depend on the movement of the B-15A iceberg.
The B-15A iceberg is a 3,000-square-kilometer (1,200-square-mile) behemoth that has a history of causing problems. It is the largest fragment of a much larger iceberg that broke away from the Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000. Scientists believe that the enormous piece of ice broke away as part of a long-term natural cycle (every 50-to-100 years, or so) in which the shelf, which is roughly the size of Texas, sheds pieces much as human fingernails grow and break off.
I have always loved shaved ice...
If the collision occurs as predicted, this could be an event that we witness again and again. The tides that drive the iceberg's motion tend to push it in circles. "If B-15A bangs the ice tongue once, it could bang it again," says Bindshadler. With multiple daily views of the Ross Sea, NASA satellites will be there to watch the show.
I guess it will just be a great ice show?
"who is this, really?"
and a bit like New England right now...
:^)
I would imagine it is more than several miles between villages...? Do you fly?
"If B-15A bangs the ice tongue once, it could bang it again,"
Nah, too easy.
Thanks! Yes I just read that on the site, apparently it sounds like it will be a great ice show but no apparent weather calamities? unless I am missing something.
Well, I dunno. Many appear to believe that The Tongue will stick it out and not break off from its parent glacier. If it does break off, I suppose it could pick up some speed and do some damage to another glacier
Ah, yes!!!
"Riiiiiiiiggggghhhhhhhhtttt".......
So it's like Clash of the Glaciers? Maybe it's one of those things where you have to be there to appreciate the view?
The view would be good, but the sound that the collision would make would be something to hear.
this is still the best pic from NASA, IMO...this image is from a panoramic pic on MARS - what is the piece of wood doing there?????????
I'm sure that iceburg will take a real licking.
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