Get Ready for The Largest Demolition Derby on the Planet

[Liberty Belle]

Get Ready for the Largest Demolition Derby on the Planet

Scientists say Slow-Motion Collision Near Antarctic Research Station Imminent


It is an event so large that the best seat in the house is in space: a massive iceberg is on a collision course with a floating glacier near the McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica. NASA satellites have witnessed the 100-mile-long B-15A iceberg moving steadily towards the Drygalski Ice Tongue. Though the iceberg's pace has slowed in recent days, NASA scientists expect a collision to occur no later than January 15, 2005.

"It's a clash of the titans, a radical and uncommon event," says Robert Bindshadler, a researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and if the two giant slabs of ice collide, we could see one of the best demolition derbies on the planet. "Even a 'tap' from a giant can be powerful. It will certainly be a blow far larger than anything else the ice tongue has ever experienced," says Bindshadler.

<snip>

The B-15A iceberg is a 3,000-square-kilometer (1,200-square-mile) behemoth that has a history of causing problems. It is the largest fragment of a much larger iceberg that broke away from the Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000...

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/ice_berg_ram.html

[genieroze]

1. Wow. n/t

[Liberty Belle]

2. Ice cubes, anyone?

[ingasm]

3. Haha

That's friggin awesome

[catzies]

4. Could the collision trigger a wave event such as a tsunami?

It couldn't possibly have any seismic effect, but how will the ocean behave?

[Liberty Belle]

6. I wondered that, too. Wouldn't want to be at Tierra del Fuego

when those titans collide.

[seriousstan]

8. No, not enough mass displacing water. It is more akin to the "calving"

of a large iceberg, such as the one about to collide with the ice tongue.

It may be cool to watch nearby but it will have no long range effects as far as waves are concerned.

[shadowknows69]

10. i don't know

if a big enough chunk of either of those bodies broke off and slid into the water there would be significant displacement.

[seriousstan]

11. No because it is already in the water. Also, a landslide makes a "hole"

in the water as it slides to the ocean bottom. Ice simply plops in the water and then bobs. (I understand that if you are in a kayak at the base of the ice your perspective would be different but I am talking larger scale distances.

[abburdlen]

12. The collision itself won't cause problems

however when the iceberg hits the Drygalski Ice tongue, it *could* allow for glacier ice to start moving toward the sea. That would be bad.

[Tims]

13. These do occur

The calving of icebergs do indeed cause massive waves, but they tend to be small compared to seismic induced waves and only effect areas fairly near the point where the break occurs. This occurs with significant frequency around the small coastal fishing communities in Alaska, Canada and Norway often causing considerable damage.

Floating ice could indeed produce a wave. This collision could cause an enormous displacement of water even though the ice would return to it's original displacement after the shock subsides. Think of it like this: a beach ball will only displace a small amount of water when it is floating undisturbed in a swimming pool, but if you hit it with a sledge hammer, its going to displace a large amount of water, even if only for a short time.

The significant point about floating ice displacement is that as floating ice melts, the oceans don't rise since they don't displace any more water frozen than melted. Oceans rise as glaciers melt and they indeed are melting. The vast majority of land locked ice is on the Antarctic continent, and the beak up and melting of sea ice there is just a prelude to the melting of its massive glaciers.

[Zerex71]

5. Hmm, global warming a farce?

So say the freepers and rightwing nutjobs.

[Liberty Belle]

7. They don't care. The rapture is coming. Dying sooner is better, as

far as those crazies are concerned.

[Tims]

14. And now Michael Crichton

in his new book. People need to remember this guy writes FICTION. But I'm sure there are a number of freepers that actually believe there is an island somewhere off the coast of Honduras where dinasours are being cloned, and that there are dead aliens being kept in cold storage on a secret air base somewhere in the deserts of New Mexico. Hey, I saw it on TV so it must be true.

[ZR2]

16. GlobaL warming has been going on since the end of the last ice age

The big question is, how impact are humans having on global warming ?

[Massachusetts]

9. Cool!

[Renew Deal]

15. Huge Iceberg to Ram glacier

http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/050114_iceberg_crash.html

[Karenina]

17. Did it crash yet?

:freak:

[NYC]

18. I checked Google, but all I found was this:

Iceberg collision could be good news for penguins

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1282547.htm

Posted at 8:30 p.m. today.



...due to collide...later today.

Scientists believe the collision could be good news for wildlife.

The collision has been coming for five years...

If the iceberg or the ice tongue fracture, that could be good news for penguins in the area.

B15-A has trapped sea ice along the coast preventing it floating away as it usually does during the Antarctic summer, so adult penguins have had to travel much further than usual to find food for their chicks.

[Renew Deal]

19. Haven't heard anything.

[Karenina]

20. I've scoured as best a Luddite can

but have found no "Breaking News" yet. ;-)
C'mon, WHERE are you iceberg freaks???

[Cooley Hurd]

21. It's the end of the world as we know it... and I feel fine...

Really... I do.:scared:;)