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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iceberg | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceberg | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:34:58.808748+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Commercial use === The idea of towing large icebergs to other regions as a source of water has been raised since at least the 1950s, without having been put into practice. In 2017, a business from the UAE announced plans to tow an iceberg from Antarctica to the Middle East; in 2019 salvage engineer Nick Sloane announced a plan to move one to South Africa at an estimated cost of $200 million. In 2019, a German company, Polewater, announced plans to tow Antarctic icebergs to places like South Africa. Companies have used iceberg water in products such as bottled water, fizzy ice cubes and alcoholic drinks. For example, Iceberg Beer by Quidi Vidi Brewing Company is made from icebergs found around St. John's, Newfoundland. Although annual iceberg supply in Newfoundland and Labrador exceeds the total freshwater consumption of the United States, in 2016 the province introduced a tax on iceberg harvesting and imposed a limit on how much fresh water can be exported yearly.
== Oceanography and ecology == The freshwater injected into the ocean by melting icebergs can change the density of the seawater in the vicinity of the iceberg. Fresh melt water released at depth is lighter, and therefore more buoyant, than the surrounding seawater causing it to rise towards the surface. Icebergs can also act as floating breakwaters, impacting ocean waves. Icebergs contain variable concentrations of nutrients and minerals that are released into the ocean during melting. Iceberg-derived nutrients, particularly the iron contained in sediments, can fuel blooms of phytoplankton. Samples collected from icebergs in Antarctica, Patagonia, Greenland, Svalbard, and Iceland, however, show that iron concentrations vary significantly, complicating efforts to generalize the impacts of icebergs on marine ecosystems.
== Recent large icebergs == Iceberg B15 calved from the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000 and initially had an area of 11,000 square kilometres (4,200 mi2). It broke apart in November 2002. The largest remaining piece of it, Iceberg B-15A, with an area of 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 mi2), was still the largest iceberg on Earth until it ran aground and split into several pieces October 27, 2005, an event that was observed by seismographs both on the iceberg and across Antarctica. It has been hypothesized that this breakup may also have been abetted by ocean swell generated by an Alaskan storm 6 days earlier and 13,500 kilometres (8,400 mi) away. 1987, Iceberg B-9, 5,390 km2 (2,080 sq mi) 1998, Iceberg A-38, about 6,900 km2 (2,700 sq mi) 1999, Iceberg B-17B 140 km2 (54 sq mi), shipping alert issued December 2009. 2000, Iceberg B-15 11,000 km2 (4,200 sq mi) 2002, Iceberg C-19, 5,500 km2 (2,100 sq mi) 2002, Iceberg B-22, 5,490 km2 (2,120 sq mi) 2003 broke off, Iceberg B-15A, 3,100 km2 (1,200 sq mi) 2006, Iceberg D-16, 310 km2 (120 sq mi) 2010, Ice sheet, 260 km2 (100 sq mi), broken off of Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland on August 5, 2010, considered to be the largest Arctic iceberg since 1962. About a month later, this iceberg split into two pieces upon crashing into Joe Island in the Nares Strait next to Greenland. In June 2011, large fragments of the Petermann Ice Islands were observed off the Labrador coast. 2014, Iceberg B-31, 615 km2 (237 sq mi), 2014 2017, Iceberg A-68, (Larsen C) 5,800 km2 (2,200 sq mi) 2018, Iceberg B-46, 225 km2 (87 sq mi) 2019, Iceberg D-28, 1,636 km2 (632 sq mi) 2021, Iceberg A-74 from the Brunt Ice Shelf, 1,270 km2 (490 sq mi) 2021, Iceberg A-76 from the Ronne Ice Shelf, 4,320 km2 (1,670 sq mi)
== In culture and metaphorical use ==
One of the most infamous icebergs in history is the iceberg that sank the Titanic. The catastrophe led to the establishment of an International Ice Patrol shortly afterwards. Icebergs in both the northern and southern hemispheres have often been compared in size to multiples of the 59.1 square kilometres (22.8 sq mi)-area of Manhattan Island. Artists have used icebergs as the subject matter for their paintings. Frederic Edwin Church, The Icebergs, 1861 was painted from sketches Church completed on a boat trip off Newfoundland and Labrador. Caspar David Friedrich, The Sea of Ice, 1823–1824 is a polar landscape with an iceberg and ship wreck depicting the dangers of such conditions. William Bradford created detailed paintings of sailing ships set in arctic coasts and was fascinated by icebergs. Albert Bierstadt made studies on arctic trips aboard steamships in 1883 and 1884 that were the basis of his paintings of arctic scenes with colossal icebergs made in the studio. American poet, Lydia Sigourney, wrote the poem "Icebergs". While on a return journey from Europe in 1841, her steamship encountered a field of icebergs overnight, during an Aurora Borealis. The ship made it through unscathed to the next morning, when the sun rose and "touched the crowns, Of all those arctic kings". Because much of an iceberg is below the water's surface and not readily visible, the expression "tip of [an] iceberg" is often used to illustrate that what is visible or addressable is a small part of a larger unseen issue. Metaphorical references to icebergs include the iceberg theory or theory of omission in writing adopted, for example, by Ernest Hemingway, Sigmund Freud's iceberg model of the psyche, the "behavioural iceberg", and models analysing the frequencies of accidents and underlying errors.
== See also ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Iceberg Finder Service for east coast of Canada Icebergs of The Arctic and Antarctic Works related to Iceberg at Wikisource