Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

Palomar · 2005-01-16 07:07:44

http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnatu … tml]Mother Nature on the move again...

*NASA scientists following this. Is being described as an uncommon and "radical" event. Iceberg B-15A is about the size of Long Island, NY. Estimations are it's 600 to 3000 feet thick (yipes). It's been traveling about 1 mph, though recently has slowed down. The article was submitted on the 14th with the prediction the collision would occur yesterday. I've not heard/read that it has and I've been following this story for over a week (decided to post about it now).

If it keeps to its present course it'll bump into the Drygalski Ice Tongue. Speculation that if it does bang into the DIT once it could do so again.

Discusses some difficulties posed to McMurdo Research Station because of the situation.

Penguin population factors (further threat or eventual benefit) also outlined.

--Cindy

ERRORIST · 2005-01-16 08:36:17

"If it keeps to its present course it'll bump into the Drygalski Ice Tongue."

I wonder if it could knock a piece of the Drygalski Ice Tongue off and cause a tidal wave bigger than the one in India?

Grypd · 2005-01-17 09:55:51

Errorist HARDLY

What might happen is it gets jammed in and forms a longer spit. But more likely is that it scrapes its way until it floats further out into the ocean.

It becomes a problem if it is able to float into the trafic lanes of shipping as it should be able to survive a lot of heating and melting.

GraemeSkinner · 2005-01-18 00:25:17

Has anyone seen any updated images of this yet? I've been searching for ages and found nothing other than "it will hit by the 15th Jan '05..."

Graeme

Palomar · 2005-01-18 06:56:09

Has anyone seen any updated images of this yet? I've been searching for ages and found nothing other than "it will hit by the 15th Jan '05..."
Graeme

*Nope. I saw a blurb about it at Yahoo! news yesterday, but nothing the livescience.com article didn't cover.

Maybe something will come along soon; it's very early a.m. here, will do the "daily rounds" of my favorite web sites here soon. Hopefully will have something to report back.

--Cindy

GraemeSkinner · 2005-01-18 23:09:31

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,316 … 00.html]No Impact Yet

The above article says the impact could happen next week or next month, they just don't know. :realllymad:

Graeme

Palomar · 2005-01-19 15:03:57

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,316 … 00.html]No Impact Yet
The above article says the impact could happen next week or next month, they just don't know. :realllymad:
Graeme

*Hi Graeme: This is as near-to an update as I've been able to find:

Satellite photos showed B-15A rushing towards the tongue, but then it slowed down in the last couple of days. Scientists think that there's a shallow seabed underneath the Drygalski ice tongue that has protected it from these kinds of collisions for so long - it's been there for at least 4000 years.

So it may have "run aground." But they're speculating B-15A might have the necessary momentum after all.

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … 05]Article

--Cindy

GraemeSkinner · 2005-01-19 23:38:18

http://www.esa.int/export/esaEO/SEMIWT7 … subhead3]A Few Animations too big file size wise to place here but worth a look on the original site.

Graeme

Grypd · 2005-02-06 13:16:05

Another large Glacier has broken away

http://www.livescience.com/environment/ … .html]Live Science article

LOT of loose ice floating around nowadays

SpaceNut · 2005-02-07 06:26:15

Watched the movie the day after, where the ice sheets brake off and cause the gulf stream to change with drastic weather patterns to become violent for the northern hemisphere. Plunging them into a mini ice age.
The continued icebergs a float makes me wonder if there is more to this senario than one might think?

Palomar · 2005-02-23 23:29:28

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050223.html]From Astropix -- terrific

*I've rechecked the links provided by Graeme and Grypd; this looks new. Can't get all of the animations in Graeme's link to open/run because of -this- computer.

Is a series of images pieced together; an animation of sorts. Comparison with Long Island, NY. Shows progression of B-15A from November 9 until January 17.

Check out the very noticeable resultant fracturing of the adjacent area on January 11. (A pity there's not a "freeze" option on each frame; I'd like to stop the sequence at two specific points especially :-\ ).

The greater Ross Ice Shelf, from which B-15A calved, has shed several large icebergs over the past few years.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-03-20 08:31:03

http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnatu … tml]Update: B-15A moving freely again

*ESA has remeasured B-15A and it's larger than previously thought. There's no longer much threat of a collision.

The widest part of the iceberg would now appear to have successfully negotiated the narrow channel between the shallow seamount to its west – where it was formerly grounded – and Franklin Island to the east"..."As long as the rear end of the iceberg remains pinned to its west by the shallow bottom topography, a collision may remain less likely,"

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-04-18 11:11:24

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … 005]Update

*Envisat radar image from April 15 shows that B-15A has hit the Drygalski ice tongue, breaking off a 5 km-sized chunk of the DIT. B-15A apparently wasn't affected by the collision. Speculation that even more damage to the DIT will occur, as the iceberg grinds at it. Mentions maps and atlases (most of which show the DIT) will have to be revised.

--Cindy

Grypd · 2005-05-18 04:35:25

B-15A is at ramming speed again.

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icebergs … Spacedaily article

B-15a is the worlds largest freefloating object at over 115 km in length and has already devestated the penquin colonies in McMurdo sound when it blocked there access to the sea and feeding. It now appears to be on collision course with the so called aviator spit and is capable of simply sheering it off and creating another large iceberg. B-15A poses no danger at present to the sea lanes but should it start floating north it could prove a major danger.

Palomar · 2005-05-18 07:14:42

B-15A is at ramming speed again.
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icebergs … Spacedaily article
B-15a is the worlds largest freefloating object at over 115 km in length and has already devestated the penquin colonies in McMurdo sound when it blocked there access to the sea and feeding. It now appears to be on collision course with the so called aviator spit and is capable of simply sheering it off and creating another large iceberg. B-15A poses no danger at present to the sea lanes but should it start floating north it could prove a major danger.

*Yep. They may have to redraw the Antarctica map yet again.

The article I read mentions (again) the threat to wildlife (unfortunate). Mankind seems to wish to control nature both ways: Impact (upon it by our volitional doings) -and- prevention.

Icebergs moving about and blocking this or that have been occurring for aeons now. I feel sorry for the penguins and other critters endangered...but Nature has its ways, populations are thinned, etc.

Like a forest fire (via a lightning strike or other NATURAL means), it may be beneficial in the long-run.

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2005-05-18 09:22:25

I have heard that arid desert locations could actually tow the iceberg to provide drinking water from it. How would one get the right to do so since it is not something that a nation can own having come from antartica?

Grypd · 2005-05-18 12:59:13

Its not the rights that are a problem its the size you do know the thing is over 2500 km square. We would need every ship in the USA all pulling to get it moving. and steering forget it.

Palomar · 2005-06-04 04:21:10

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050603/sc … ]Different iceberg (B15G)

*...won't create new thread for this. It's twice the size of Malta. Broke off Ross Ice Shelf in 2000. Ran aground at Vincennes Bay at Casey on April 28.

315 square miles in size (788 sq km).

Casey station leader Jeremy Smith said he and his 13 colleagues had become accustomed to seeing the...iceberg on their horizon.
"We came to view the iceberg with some affection. Our frozen sea view, though still littered with small icebergs, seems empty now," he told the Australian Associated Press.

It traveled 620 miles before coming to a stop off Casey.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-11-08 06:31:10

*Neil Sedaka was wrong:

Breaking up -isn't- hard to do

B-15A has fragmented along Cape Adare. Hmmm.....Adare A dare. Seems an appropriate coinkydink.

"The long knife-shaped pieces suggest the iceberg has split along existing lines of weakness within the iceberg..."

These new icebergs, named by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ice Center, will retain their parent's title: the three largest island-sized pieces have been called B-15M, B-15N and B-15P.

Gives a brief rundown of the recent past history of B-15A (including troubles to local penguin colonies, which was predicted).

--Cindy

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#1 2005-01-16 07:07:44

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#2 2005-01-16 08:36:17

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#3 2005-01-17 09:55:51

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#4 2005-01-18 00:25:17

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#5 2005-01-18 06:56:09

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#6 2005-01-18 23:09:31

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#7 2005-01-19 15:03:57

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#8 2005-01-19 23:38:18

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#9 2005-02-06 13:16:05

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#10 2005-02-07 06:26:15

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#11 2005-02-23 23:29:28

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#12 2005-03-20 08:31:03

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#13 2005-04-18 11:11:24

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#14 2005-05-18 04:35:25

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#15 2005-05-18 07:14:42

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#16 2005-05-18 09:22:25

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#17 2005-05-18 12:59:13

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#18 2005-06-04 04:21:10

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

#19 2005-11-08 06:31:10

Re: Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier

Board footer