Terror on the high seas

the iceberg that took down the Titanic in 1912 looks like a mere ice cube compared to the one that has drifted into the Drake Passage between Antarctica and South America. In 1992, a giant iceberg that broke off from Antarctica floated free and split into two. The larger chunk called b -10 a which is about 40 km wide and 80 km long -- roughly the size of Rhode Island -- is now drifting in the sea passage.

Its presence has caused alarm bells to ring because the passage is important for cruise ships, research vessels, fishing trawlers and other commercial ships. While warnings about b -10 a have been issued and ships' radar would pick it up, the real hazard is presented by smaller icebergs that have calved off and are harder to detect. "They can cut through a steel ship like you would cut butter with a knife," said Jeff Andrews, a leading analyst at the National Ice Centre.

The Maryland-based National Ice Centre said in a press release that the iceberg is presently located in the vicinity of latitude 58 degrees, 36 minutes south, longitude 57 degrees west and is drifting south-east at approximately seven to nine miles per day. Smaller icebergs are breaking off as b -10 a moves into relatively warmer waters. A cautionary note has been established 165 miles in radius around the centre point of the iceberg.

Using satellite imagery, scientists estimate that the iceberg towers 300 feet above the surface and probably reaches a depth of 1,000 feet below the ocean level. There is, however, a piece of good news for ships -- if the berg drifts into warmer waters, then, there are chances that it will melt within three months. b -10, b -10 a 's "parent" iceberg was once a piece of the Thwaites Ice Tongue, an extension of the Thwaites glacier. The National Ice Centre has been tracking b -10 since January 1992 and the smaller iceberg drifted west in and along the Antarctic ice pack and eventually became too small to warrant tracking.

Interest among oceanographers is increasing about the west Antarctic ice sheet because it is a dynamic and unstable system that contains three million cubic kilometres of ice. During the last 30 years, scientists have become increasingly concerned about the effects global warming might have on the Antarctic ice sheet and probably its time now, more than ever, to understand the problem

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