Billion-Ton Iceberg Calved From Greenland 2008 Moves 2,000K South - 5X Larger Berg Waiting In Wings

[hatrack]

A billion-tonne iceberg that calved from a northern Greenland glacier last summer has drifted 2,000 kilometres into Canadian waters and is now stalking the southern coast of Baffin Island — a potential shipping hazard that federal scientists are closely tracking by satellite and with a beacon placed directly on the frozen mass.

But experts monitoring the Petermann Ice Island — named for the glacier it split from last July — say they’re bracing for the birth of a monster berg five times bigger that could break away from the same High Arctic source this summer.

If that colossal chunk of ice and snow remains whole after it heaves clear of Greenland’s ancient Petermann Glacier, it would form a floating monolith about the size of B.C.’s Saltspring Island — greater in area than New Brunswick’s Grand Manan or Ontario’s Wolfe Island, the largest of the Thousand Islands. Officials with the Canadian Ice Service, the branch of Environment Canada that monitors ice conditions on the country’s navigable waterways, is sharing data with a team of U.S. scientists to ensure an early warning when the glacier calves again.

It currently has a massive crack about one kilometre wide and 12 kilometres long — a split that could produce a 160-square-kilometre ice island likely to track the same southward route down Davis Strait the earlier one did. “In terms of another chunk of ice about to break off,” a Canadian Ice Service spokeswoman told Canwest News Service, the service is “sharing RADARSAT-2 images” with U.S. researchers studying the Greenland glacier, who will in return provide Environment Canada with “advance warning of any impending breakup.”

EDIT

http://www.vancouversun.com/Technology/Billion+tonne+iceberg+could+Arctic+shipping+hazard/1670898/story.html

[HopeHoops]

1. Do I sense a movie theme here?

"MONSTER BERG! Coming to theaters near you SOON!"

[hatrack]

3. Yeah, but it was just too loooooooooong

For a thriller, it moved at a glacial pace.

Hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk!!!!!

[HopeHoops]

5. Groan. n/t

[phantom power]

2. Somebody hitch a tug to that cash cow.

I'm talking fresh water on the hoof.

[Richard D]

6. 5 billion tons of water

Lot of iced tea there. Something like 1.25 trillion gallons

[RT Atlanta]

4. Could that be towed?

I remember reading some "far out" theories for solving fresh water issues and towing icebergs to the afflicted localities was thrown out as a "solution."

[The Croquist]

7. No it can't be towed

I'm almost totally winging this so bear with me.

I did some goggling and decided that the best thing to tow this would be a Nimitz class carrier. Super Tankers are larger but have less horsepower.

A Nimitz has about 260,000 shp that can move the 78,000 ton ship at 30+ knots (35 MPH). The iceberg comes in at 1,000,000,000 tons. The Nimitz moves roughly 1 / 12,820th of the weight. I don't see it working if you want to go against the current, tide or or a light breeze.

Once again nature beats man.