How do icebergs float in the antarctic?

Answer 1

Because ice is less dense than the water it floats in. However, if your question relates to why there are icebergs in the Antarctic and Arctic, but not in other waters, it is due to a number of reasons, such as :

- The icebergs are (generally) formed when a slab of the Antarctic or Arctic ice cap close to the sea breaks off (it must be noted, however, that there is no land at the north pole, so the Arctic ice cap is simply one massive iceberg) and floats away.

- In the Antarctic something called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Circumpolar_Current) causes the icebergs to whip around the Southern Ocean, rather than venture out into warmer waters

- Also, icebergs do float upwards into the warmer oceans of the world, but melt as they encounter warmer climates and waters.

Answer 2

icebergs float because they are the same as a cube of ice in a drink but bigger icebergs float because they are the same as a cube of ice in a drink but bigger icebergs float because they are the same as a cube of ice in a drink but bigger

Answer 3

The Arctic is at the North Pole. There is no land at the North Pole. And ice floats on water.

The South Pole (Antarctica) is a continent with ice sitting on the land as well as floating out over the ocean. Water is very unusual in that its solid form, ice, has a smaller density than its liquid form. Liquid water has a density of 1.0 g/cc, and ice has a density of 0.9 g/cc. That's why the Northern polar ice cap floats on top of the Arctic Ocean.

Answer 4

IceBergs float because they are less dense than water. Anything that is less dense than water will float on it. That is a property of water. Ice bergs don't have to be in the artic or antarctic waters to float... its just at these places icebergs are more abundant because they don't melt in the cold temperatures. If you put an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic it would float, but it would melt in a short period of time.

Answer 5

It all has to do with density. Water is a strange compound compared to others. Every compound except water follows this rubric: Solid=Most Dense, Liquid=Less Dense, Gas=Least Dense.

However, water follows a much different path. Water is Most dense as a liquid, less dense as a solid, and least dense as a gas. But we will focus on the solid and liquid portion of this. (Ice and water).

The density of water is 1 g/cm cubed. (Just think of it as 1) and the density of ice is 0.9 g/cm cubed (0.9). So when something that has a density of 0.9 is in a substance that has a density of 1, the object will float, in this case an iceberg. Density affects an objects ability to float. Remember something that is less dense will always float in something that is more dense. But it gets even cooler

(No pun intended.) When you see an iceberg, you are only seeing 10% (or 1 tenth) of it because since the density is 0.9 and it floats, that .1 is ABOVE the surface. (0.9=90%, 0.1=10%). So 90% of the iceberg is underwater and 10% of it is above water. (Icebergs are massive.)