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What happens to icebergs after they have broken off a glacier or ice sheet?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
They float away from the poles and gradually melt.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
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What are facts about icebergs?
Icebergs are a floating mass of freshwater that have broken of from a glacier or ice sheet. Much of the mass of an iceberg is below the surface of the water, only approximately 10% is visible above the water. The HMS Titanic sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg.
Is ice sheet a type of glacier?
Yes
What is a sheet of ice on the ocean called?
Icebergs.The icebergs that break off do so because the glacier of which they are a part flows toward the sea, like a river, only much slower.When a fracture or a vulnerable sheer exists in the glacier, and the glacier tongue drifts far enough into open water, and the sea currents or waves exert enough pressure on the tongue, the tongue splits off from the glacier and becomes an iceberg.
What forms as Lambert glacier flows out over the ocean?
an ice sheet
Usually thin till layer laid down by a retreating glacier?
Kame sheet forms thin layers by a retreating glacier.
What are the sheets of ice that break off the edge of Antarctica?
Glacier tongues that break off the Antarctic ice sheet are called icebergs once they disconnect from the sheet.
Where is a glacier in antarctica?
Ninety-eight percent of the continent -- which is about the size of USA and Mexico combined -- is covered by an ice sheet. Because of its geography, glaciers -- defined as ice that moves under its own weight -- form in the sheet, and are calved off to form ice tongues. Eventually, these break off and become icebergs.
What 's a glacier?
A glacier is a thick sheet of ice.
In Antarctica do icebergs have names?
By definition, icebergs float in the Southern Ocean, having broken off the Antarctic ice sheet. Some identify these bergs with names -- especially the larger bergs. You can learn more about how the large bergs are named, below.
What is a sheet of ice?
a sheet of ice is called a glacier
What does the word calved mean in relation to Antarctica?
Calved in the context of Antarctica is actually within the context of an ice sheet, or glacier, means that a portion of the ice has flowed into the sea and that the wave action of the sea has broken off part of the ice tongue. For example: icebergs calve off if ice sheets or glaciers. Past tense is calved.
What are primary freshwater?
Icebergs are primarily freshwater. Icebergs form as a result of two main processes. The first is that it freezes slow enough that it forms ice which doesn't have room for salt inclusions. Another way is that they are broken off from a land based ice sheet.
Is a glacier a sheet of ice?
Yes
What is a group of icebergs called?
Icebergs are huge sheets of ice that caused the tragedy of the Titanic, etc.Another AnswerAn iceberg is a floating block of ice with an irregular shape. The ice was formed by frozen water moving downhill on a continent -- slowly, but rather like a river -- all the while compacting the minerals out of the ice and being built up increasing its thickness year after year by precipitation.When the ice sheet 'flows' into the sea and part of the ice sheet floats against the tides, any weak spot in the ice sheet causes one of these blocks to 'calve' off the sheet -- separate -- and float into the sea.Most of an iceberg floats underwater, hidden from view. Icebergs as large as some US states have been known to calve off ice sheets in the Antarctic.An iceberg is a chunk of a glacier that has broken away and floats free in the ocean.An iceberg is a large chunk of ice broken off from a glacier or from an ice shelf such as those in Antarctica. They can be very large. The Titanic hit a towering iceberg, but the damage was done below the surface. Only 10 percent of an iceberg sits above the surface of the water.The largest recorded iceberg was 28 miles wide and 208 miles long.
Does an alpine glacier or an ice sheet form quicker?
ice sheet
What are facts about icebergs?
Icebergs are a floating mass of freshwater that have broken of from a glacier or ice sheet. Much of the mass of an iceberg is below the surface of the water, only approximately 10% is visible above the water. The HMS Titanic sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg.
What a glaciers?
A glacier is a thick sheet of ice.
