The Beauty of Icebergs
The emperor penguin stands alone under the mountainous shadow of the iceberg, contemplating its existence. The vast, barren landscape and immutable whiteness sends a despondent shiver through its body... Or maybe it’s just cold and bored, who can tell?
In this blog we explore icebergs, taking in the beauty and uniqueness of each one as we describe exactly what they are and their importance to the climate.
The formation of icebergs begins with the process of calving. When a glacier reaches the sea or a large ice shelf extends into the ocean, the ice can fracture and break off due to the stress and pressure of accumulated ice. These fragments drift away as icebergs. As they travel, they undergo gradual melting, creating the unique features and characteristics of the icebergs.
Icebergs make up an integral part of our climate. The calving of an iceberg from an ice shelf affects the balance of the ice sheet it came from. Let me clarify all these ice terms:
Ice sheet: A massive layer of ice covering a large area of land
Ice shelf: Ice connected to the land and the ice-sheet behind it, that floats, extending into the ocean.
Iceberg: Massive pieces of ice that have broken off an ice-shelf and float out to sea.
Sea ice: Frozen ocean water that forms and floats in the sea of polar regions.
The key point is, increases in iceberg production can lead to changes in the land-ice balance and increases in sea-level rise.
Icebergs also affect ocean currents, local weather and biological ecosystems. For example, a large iceberg stuck near the Mertz Glacier in Antarctica led to substantial changes in the regions formation of the dense water that feeds the global overturning circulation (Snow et al., 2018). The icebergs influence on sea-ice in the region also affected the local penguin colonies' ability to reach open water, reducing penguin numbers considerably (Wilson et al. 2016). This iceberg measured about 100 x 35 km (about the size of Luxembourg), weighed 860 billion tons, and reached depths of around 300m.
In addition to their importance in climate and ecology, icebergs are also a serious tourist attraction, from boat trips dedicated to viewing icebergs to making vodka out of iceberg ice. Their mammoth sizes and intricate icescapes make them a unique wonder of our planet. We’ve witnessed thousands of icebergs in our travels, and not once have we gotten bored of their intricate shapes and unique beauty. The beauty of icebergs is truly universal, and a wonder that needs to be appreciated. By respecting the significance of icebergs and their impact on our climate, we can better grasp the complexities of climate change and the urgent need for conservation efforts to preserve these vital components of our Earth's system.
References
Wilson, Kerry-Jane, Chris S. M. Turney, Christopher J. Fogwill and Estelle Blair. ‘The Impact of the Giant Iceberg B09B on Population Size and Breeding Success of Adélie Penguins in Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica.’ Antarctic Science 28.3 (2016): 187-93.
Snow, K., Rintoul, S. R., Sloyan, B. M., & Hogg, A. M. (2018). Change in Dense Shelf Water and Adélie Land Bottom Water precipitated by iceberg calving. Geophysical Research Letters, 45, 2380–2387. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076195
