Posted on 12/12/2009 7:13:49 AM PST by bayliving
11 Dec 09 - A giant iceberg measuring 140 square km (54 square miles) - double the size of either Sydney Harbour or Manhattan - is headed for Australia.
Known as B17B, the mammoth chunk of ice - 12 miles long and five miles wide - is about 1,700 km (1,056 miles) off Australia's southwest coast, according to the country's Antarctic Division.
"B17B is a very significant one in that it has drifted so far north while still largely intact," said Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Dr Neal Young, who spotted the slab using satellite images taken by NASA and the European Space Agency.
Dr Young said if the iceberg on its northward path, it would eventually break up into hundreds of smaller icebergs.
Polar bears on vacation?
>>The Bureau of Meteorology said the once-in-a-century cliff of ice broke off from Antarctica nearly 10 years ago. <<
It would be cool to build a house on it and tour the planet for a couple of decades.
I wish there was a giant iceberg headed towards Washington!
“Titanic II: Revenge of the Iceberg”
Question of the week:
Are icebergs salt water or fresh water?
Yes, very cool.
Now what do I win?!?! :)
I’m thinking both. Depends on their source. If they are from a calved glacier, they are fresh. If they are from frozen sea water (as with a frozen lake), they are salt water.
But that is just an educated guess. Because of the size of this one I would bet it is salt water with a very thick coating of fresh water ice from all the snow buildup before it broke up. A calved piece of a glacier would not be that large.
Icebergs are, I believe, compacted snow and ice therefore they are fresh water.
>>Yes, very cool.<<
I think I should of said, swell, groovy, fun or anything besides cool. :)
It would be an incredible adventure though. The sheer size would give you room to have a LARGE landing strip, a car and, shoot, maybe you could bring in some dirt and plant a nice garden and raise beef. What an amazing “Around the world in 80 days” news event it would be for the first couple of years.
Fresh water.
What no google sat pic’s?
It’s time to panic, for sure.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/45792
B-17Bs at March Field, California, prior to attack on Pearl Harbor
My Dad worked at Curtiss Wright's and produced the cylinder sleeves for this great aircraft!
It will be the size of an ice cube by the time it reaches Australia.
Freshwater. Freezing forces the salt and most other impurities out.
Is Hillary Clinton on another diplomatic mission? (/rimshot)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.