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> Tracking an Iceberg the Size of a State, 1987 Antarctic Iceberg's Story
John_Sode
post Jun 23 2005, 01:41 PM
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One of the questions I/ve been asked is "How big is an Iceberg?"

While icebergs vary in size, they can become quite large and last for many years. For example, I found the following short description in the May 1991 issue of National Geographic in the Geographica section. Sample reading questions are listed in the Experiments and Activities Section under "How big can an iceberg get?"


From National Geographic

"Tracking an Icebergy the Size of a State"

" It sounds like a work of science fiction: an iceberg nearly the size of Delaware drifts 1,200 miles at speeds as great as eight miles a day for almost two years--then splits into pieces.

But it's true. The iceberg ... bearing the prosaic name B-9, was calved (formed) from the eastern Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica in October, 1987, reuniting what had been the Bay of Whales with the open ocean. B-9, 96 miles long and 22 miles wide, was tracked on its odessey by scientists who used satellite data to plot its route,speed, and rotation.

B-9 was the not the largest iceberg ever known--one measuring 60 by 60 miles holds that record--nor was it tracked the longest; scientists followed one berg for 11 years.

But in the process of tracking B-9,says Stan Jacobs of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, scientists gained insight into how icebergs interact with powerful Antarctic currents and the seafloor.

As for the Bay of Whales; Jacobs says the ice around it will advance at the rate of 1, 600 feet a year, so it resemble its old self in a mere 70 years."
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