Contact www.aroundthebay.ca
to post your Iceberg photos or any Iceberg Sighting.
Some interesting facts about Newfoundland's Ice
Giants. 90% of
Newfoundland�s icebergs originate from the glaciers of western
Greenland. As icebergs drift south in the Labrador Current they enter
�Iceberg Alley� which extends south along the coast of
Newfoundland. It takes
approximately 2 to 3 years for this massive icebergs to reach
Newfoundland covering a distance of 1600 nautical miles.
The average drift speed of icebergs off the north east coast of
Newfoundland is around 0.2 m/s (0.7km/h). Many
bays and coves along the coast of Newfoundland can be
harbouring these ice giants all summer long as some icebergs become
grounded on the ocean floor. Tourist from all over the world visited
Newfoundland every year to view these spectacular giants. Late Spring
to early summer is considered to be the peak season for iceberg
viewing. It has been determined
that Newfoundland's icebergs were formed more than 15,000 years
ago. Just to keep everything in perspective the saber-toothed tiger
and the mighty Woolly Mammoth went extinct 9,000 -10,000 years ago at
the end of the last ice age (during the Pleistocene epoch).!
Getting back on track
Icebergs
can reach an impressive staggering height of 150-200 feet tall, 75-100
feet long, and 50-75 feet wide. An
Iceberg shape is subject to change due to assorted weather factors.
They can be moulded into unusual and fascinating shapes by the
action of the wind and waves. The
interior temperature of an iceberg can range from �15�
to �20�C.
Only at the outer surface does the temperature hover around 0�C
(the melting point). Given that glacier ice is formed from snowfall
and snow results from condense water vapour in the atmosphere, the
water from icebergs is quite pure.
Icebergs are comprised of pure freshwater.
Icebergs are very safe to consume and are free from many of the
pollutants found in today's atmosphere. In
recent years, Newfoundland's iceberg industry have harvest the
ice to obtain the purest water on earth for bottled water and vodka
production.
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