14-Feb A Giant Iceberg – B15J
Climbed out on deck from the engine room after a phonecall from the bridge advised me to take a peek across our starboard side. What I saw made me think we were sailing in the English Channel beneath the white cliffs of Dover. Towering over and for as far the eye could see behind us and in front of us were the chilly white cliffs of a massive iceberg. I head up the bridge to see if they have seen it. I am informed that this one actually has a name - B15J - and it turns out that this iceberg is already eight years old. It is 24Nm long, 14 Nm wide, (350square Nm) and is actually grounded.
We trawl right in front of this iceberg. Man it is huge. It looks even bigger than the cliffs of Dover, bigger than Ben-Hur. The stark white cliffs rise 30 to 35 meters above the sea level and they reckon that there would be another 70 to 100 meters below. It is bitterly cold outside, minus 10.5 degrees plus the wind chill factor. Accommodation heating is struggling to keep the interior warm. The patterns on the sides of this iceberg are amazing where pieces have sheared off and where at different times of the day in different light shows all the different forms of them are shown.
Naming of Icebergs in Antarctica. This is done by the US National Ice Center (NIC) for any iceberg larger than 10 nautical miles 18km along at least one side. The name starts with a letter A, B, C or D according to which segment of Antarctica it was originally sighted, as follows:
A = Longitude 0-90West (Bellingshausen/Weddell Sea)B = 90W-180 (Amundsen/Eastern Ross Sea)C = 180-90E (Western Ross Sea/Wilkesland)D = 90E-0 (Amery/Eastern Weddell Sea).
Upon first sighting of an iceberg, NIC documents its point of origin, allocates the letter of the quadrant it was found in together with a sequential number assigned to the iceberg. For example B-15 is sequentially the 15th iceberg tracked by the NIC in Antarctica in Quadrant B.
THE HISTORY OF B15 and B15J
It turns out that B15J is the sole surviving remnant of the Iceberg B-15, All the other bits calved off from B15 since have excited the Ros Sea but B15J had stayed stranded most of the time.
Born March 17 2000: B-15, the 15th iceberg tracked in the B quadrant of Antarctica and the world's largest ever recorded iceberg 10,915 square km (about 5 times the area of Lake Taupo) broke off (calved) the Ross Sea Ice Shelf. At the same time the much smaller B16 broke off.
October 9, 2003: B-15A broke into two pieces east northeast of Ross Island in the Ross Sea. The larger iceberg retains B-15A as its name and the smaller iceberg is named B-15J. The east to west circular Ross Sea current took B15A away fom Ross Island Northwards. GPS planted onto iceberg to enable tracking
2004 – 2005: B15A stranded and blocked off the McMurdo Sound. The blockage prevented the Ross Sea currents and winds from assisting in the 2004–2005 summer break-up of the sea ice in McMurdo Sound. The sound thus remained iced over and so proved a major obstacle for the annual resupply ships to three research stations and deprived the colonies of Adelie penguins easy access to the sea for food. The coloneis were subsequently decimated.
April 2005: B-15A moves on and collides with the Dryglaski Ice Toung; the outlet from David Glacier that flows through Antarcticas mountainous Victoria Land coastal region. An 8-km² section is broken off. B15J stays behind.
27–28 October, 2005: B15A ran aground off Cape Adare in Victoria Land breaks a small knife-shaped iceberg, B-15K + B-15P, B-15M and B-15N. a storm in Alaska caused an ocean swell that broke B15A into nine pieces. The waves travelled 13,500 km from Alaska to Antarctica over a six-day period.
21 Nov 2006: B-15P, B-15M and B-15N all remnants of B-15A are spotted off the Otago Coastline.
Climbed out on deck from the engine room after a phonecall from the bridge advised me to take a peek across our starboard side. What I saw made me think we were sailing in the English Channel beneath the white cliffs of Dover. Towering over and for as far the eye could see behind us and in front of us were the chilly white cliffs of a massive iceberg. I head up the bridge to see if they have seen it. I am informed that this one actually has a name - B15J - and it turns out that this iceberg is already eight years old. It is 24Nm long, 14 Nm wide, (350square Nm) and is actually grounded.
We trawl right in front of this iceberg. Man it is huge. It looks even bigger than the cliffs of Dover, bigger than Ben-Hur. The stark white cliffs rise 30 to 35 meters above the sea level and they reckon that there would be another 70 to 100 meters below. It is bitterly cold outside, minus 10.5 degrees plus the wind chill factor. Accommodation heating is struggling to keep the interior warm. The patterns on the sides of this iceberg are amazing where pieces have sheared off and where at different times of the day in different light shows all the different forms of them are shown.
Naming of Icebergs in Antarctica. This is done by the US National Ice Center (NIC) for any iceberg larger than 10 nautical miles 18km along at least one side. The name starts with a letter A, B, C or D according to which segment of Antarctica it was originally sighted, as follows:
A = Longitude 0-90West (Bellingshausen/Weddell Sea)B = 90W-180 (Amundsen/Eastern Ross Sea)C = 180-90E (Western Ross Sea/Wilkesland)D = 90E-0 (Amery/Eastern Weddell Sea).
Upon first sighting of an iceberg, NIC documents its point of origin, allocates the letter of the quadrant it was found in together with a sequential number assigned to the iceberg. For example B-15 is sequentially the 15th iceberg tracked by the NIC in Antarctica in Quadrant B.
THE HISTORY OF B15 and B15J
It turns out that B15J is the sole surviving remnant of the Iceberg B-15, All the other bits calved off from B15 since have excited the Ros Sea but B15J had stayed stranded most of the time.
Born March 17 2000: B-15, the 15th iceberg tracked in the B quadrant of Antarctica and the world's largest ever recorded iceberg 10,915 square km (about 5 times the area of Lake Taupo) broke off (calved) the Ross Sea Ice Shelf. At the same time the much smaller B16 broke off.
October 9, 2003: B-15A broke into two pieces east northeast of Ross Island in the Ross Sea. The larger iceberg retains B-15A as its name and the smaller iceberg is named B-15J. The east to west circular Ross Sea current took B15A away fom Ross Island Northwards. GPS planted onto iceberg to enable tracking
2004 – 2005: B15A stranded and blocked off the McMurdo Sound. The blockage prevented the Ross Sea currents and winds from assisting in the 2004–2005 summer break-up of the sea ice in McMurdo Sound. The sound thus remained iced over and so proved a major obstacle for the annual resupply ships to three research stations and deprived the colonies of Adelie penguins easy access to the sea for food. The coloneis were subsequently decimated.
April 2005: B-15A moves on and collides with the Dryglaski Ice Toung; the outlet from David Glacier that flows through Antarcticas mountainous Victoria Land coastal region. An 8-km² section is broken off. B15J stays behind.
27–28 October, 2005: B15A ran aground off Cape Adare in Victoria Land breaks a small knife-shaped iceberg, B-15K + B-15P, B-15M and B-15N. a storm in Alaska caused an ocean swell that broke B15A into nine pieces. The waves travelled 13,500 km from Alaska to Antarctica over a six-day period.
21 Nov 2006: B-15P, B-15M and B-15N all remnants of B-15A are spotted off the Otago Coastline.
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