| satcom15 |
| (Tourist) |
| 04/04/08 06:52 PM |
|
Re: Wilkins Ice Shelf is disintegrating
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Quote:
I was looking at the high res images of the breakup and noticed something I've always wanted to see. Which is what does the iceberg look line under the under the sea?
Take a look at the labeled iceberg. About 90% of it is blue and 10% is white. I'm speculating that its a slice of the tabular icesheet that has flipped on its side exposing the ice normally below sealevel. I expect that the blue color may mark the region previously below seawater. If the floating bergs are 25 m high, the depth below sea level would be about 200m making the whole berg about 225 m thick.
If this is true, the edges of the white ice (above water part) of the ice berg on the right don't seem to match the edges of the icerberg on the left. Could the iceberg calved from the ice sheet in the foreground, flipped on its side, then rotated 90 degrees? At least from the perspective of the image this seems like it might have happened. I agree the blue of the ice could have been the sub water ice. And the proportions of Above to Below water ice look reasonable. Also the iceberg on the left does not have the same look to it as the one on the right and its top surface is higher. Sure seems plausible doesn't it. Interesting. Regardless, that the ice sheet shattered as it did is still pretty amazing.
Cheers