Black iceberg photo

[Submariner]

Last edited Tue Jan 8, 2013, 04:57 PM - Edit history (1)

It's not everyday (or ever) you see a black iceberg. So when one witness snapped a flick of such rarity, the post went bonkers on Reddit.

CBS News reports the photo was posted by user Rundboll on Friday (Jan. 4), receiving over 1,000 comments and featured on the front page.

According to The Canada Encyclopedia, the odd-colored iceberg is a result of density differences.

“Others may appear green, brown or black, or combinations of these colors. These icebergs have usually rolled over, exposing basal ice, or have emerged from below water level. The various colorations are caused by differences in density, air-bubble content and impurities. For example, black ice is of high density and bubble free; dark layers indicate the presence of rock materials derived from the base of the parent glacier. Occasionally, rocks may be found on the original upper surface of the iceberg. As the iceberg melts, these materials precipitate into marine or lake sediments.”

http://www.vibe.com/article/black-iceberg-photo-goes-viral-reddit

[thecrow]

1. Ihave never seen a picture of this, nor did I know about this before!

Thank you for posting! Off to the greatest page. K&R

[Historic NY]

2. Well, that gives new meaning to cold dark night on the ocean.....

I can't imagine plowing into that. YIKES

Where was it taken?

[Submariner]

3. No indication from where, but probably Obama's fault n/t

[BlancheSplanchnik]

5. well of course. It's BLACK!!!!!!!!

He's gonna enslave the WHITE icebergs, he's such a racist Iceist

[murielm99]

8. Not at all!

This thing took a while to form, so it has to be Clinton's fault.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Looks like Cheney's old heart.

cold and black.

[gateley]

4. Wow!

[FirstLight]

6. so does this mean it's from a deeper part of the ocean?

Icemelt/glacial melt happening at deeper levels? Hmmmmmm....

[D Gary Grady]

10. Icebergs break off of glaciers

Icebergs aren't formed in the deep ocean but are rather "calved" off of glaciers as they slowly slide from land into the sea at the coast.

[judesedit]

7. Probably from the area of the Valdez oil spill

[patrice]

9. "basal ice", "base of the parent glacier", not good, huh? nt

[morningfog]

11. That was my thought. I am no expert, but I wonder if the reason we never see these is

because this type of melt due to climate change has never occurred before.

[jeff47]

15. Glaciers have always flowed

As a result, the bottom of glaciers have always broken off as they fall into the sea (or other body of water)

If it was a new phenomenon, we wouldn't already know it was caused by density, air content and minerals. We'd have just started studying these weird new glaciers.

[alfredo]

24. I bet it melts faster than white ice.

[jimlup]

13. Wow! I've seen blue ice but never black ice.

Blue ice is shocking enough to see in person.

[Mnemosyne]

14. K&R

[Mac1949]

16. This is what (then) Second Officer Lightoller testified was struck by the Titanic.

He was not on the bridge at the time (he was off duty), but he always said that he was convinced it was a berg that had rolled over, exposing the dark ice of it's underside, and that's why it wasn't spotted early enough to take effective action.

[NutmegYankee]

17. Now that is cool!

I didn't realize there could be black ice.

[TheMadMonk]

18. How about this one for your scotch?

[NutmegYankee]

19. Any background info?

Because that is awesome!

[TheMadMonk]

21. Google "rainbow iceberg"

Chance encounter mid-ocean.

[NutmegYankee]

22. Thanks!

http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/photos-of-rainbow-iceberg.html

[Aldo Leopold]

20. Whoa, awesome!

I've sailed past plenty of icebergs, but didn't even know black ones existed!

[Solly Mack]

23. kr