Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Giant Iceberg to Collide with Glacier

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the snow-plowing dept.

OECD writes "NASA reports that a massive 100-mile-long iceberg is on a collision course (movie) with a floating glacier near the McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica. NASA scientists expect a collision to occur no later than January 15, 2005."

11 of 423 comments (clear)

  1. Oooh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cold Fusion?

  2. Wait.. by MrRuslan · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's the day after tommorow...well it almost is.

  3. Need a better view by Albinoman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Things like this dont happen too often. Surely someone can sacrifice a few bucks to set up a camera in the front row. Maybe it could be some inspiration for those CGI effects in Hollywood.

    1. Re:Need a better view by sunwukong · · Score: 5, Funny

      Speed 3: Revenge Served Cold!

      Just a sec while I get out my etch-a-sketch and pound out a script ...

  4. apocalypse , now? by OffTheLip · · Score: 5, Funny

    tsumanis, icebergs, mudslides, giant asteroids on a collision course with earth, windows exploits. armegeddon?

  5. Re:Iceburg? by koi88 · · Score: 5, Funny


    What's an iceburg?

    From German:
    Berg (as in iceberg): mountain
    Burg (as in, umm, iceburg): castle

    So I guess this iceburg is some mad scientist's hideout (Dr. Frost or whatever).

    --

    I don't need a signature.
  6. This is important because... by polysylabic+psudonym · · Score: 5, Informative

    Aside from looking cool and being important to penguins (the two things that the article seems to focus on) this can affect things that are actually important.

    The ice tongue that the iceberg is going to hit is the ocean end of a glacier. If that is knocked off by the collision that could be like pulling the cork from a bottle. It may cause the glacier to discharge into the more rapidly than it otherwise would, raising sea levels.

    http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg1842 47 96.100

  7. Ooooh 300 million tons by asliarun · · Score: 5, Interesting

    (been a long time since i did some math)

    From the site:-
    "The B-15A iceberg is a 3,000-square-kilometer (1,200-square-mile) behemoth"

    Pulling figures from the nether region, i'm assuming the berg to be 100mts high. This would give us:-
    Surface area = 3000 sq. km = 3000 x 1000 x 1000 = 3 x 10^9 sq. mt.
    Thus, volume of berg = 3 x 10^9 x 100 = 3 x 10^11 cubic mts.

    Now, i know that roughly, 1 cubic meter of ice (water) = 1000kg.

    Thus, weight of berg = 3 x 10^11 x 1000 = 3 x 10^14 kgs.

    That's 3000000,000,00,000kgs. = 3000000,000,00 metric tons = 300000000 kilotons = 300000 million tons!

    If my math is correct, then oooh boy, this is going to be one heck of a fender bender.

    1. Re:Ooooh 300 million tons by syntap · · Score: 5, Funny

      My God, and that's just the tip of the problem.

      My best sig is this one.

  8. iceberg coming... by geeklawyer · · Score: 5, Funny
    at half a mile an hour.

    Quick! Gather up your children and amble away as though your life depends on it.

    --
    -he who laughs last, is a bit slow.
    journal
  9. Re:Penguins in peril by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    There's probably a penguin on the iceberg pumping its foot and yelling "Waaaa! No brakes, no brakes!"