New Ice Island Studies Interesting

Chunks of ice separated from the glaciers of Greenland, near the North Pole, at the end of last week was the biggest in the history of the last 50 years.
"The ice blocks apart could not have united again with the glaciers of Greenland," said Hidayat Pawitan environmental physicist from the Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), Wednesday (08/11/2010) in Bogor.
According to Hidayat, if the ice shelf breakup is influenced by the global ocean circulation that warms, it should already be predicted up to a year or more earlier.
If the chunk of ice was due to the increase in atmospheric temperature, can go faster. "Each of them is a phenomenon that could be influential," said Hidayat.
As reported by Reuters and AFP, ice blocks that have an area 260 kilometers square. Height showed above the surface is estimated half of the Empire State Building in New York, United States, or about 150 meters.
Marine science and technology experts from the University of Delaware, United States, Andreas Muenchow, express, ice blocks were separated from Petermann glacier. This glacier is one of two of the largest in Greenland.
Muenchow estimates, the volume of fresh water in the ice blocks is the volume flow of the Hudson River in Delaware for two years. Volume was also equated with the needs of 120 days of the U.S. public will fresh water from the tap.
As a scientist, Muenchow can not directly confirm the cause chunks of ice due to global warming. Although it is known that the first six months of this year 2010 is the hottest period.
"The flow of sea water under the glacier is one of the main causes of the iceberg," said Muenchow.
Minus 80 degrees celsius Hidayat Pawitan express, chunks of ice that appears to the upper surface of the sea water is only 10 percent. The rest, 90 percent chunk of ice that exist under the surface of sea water so that it can reach a depth of about one kilometer.
"Centre ice blocks have a temperature range to minus 80 degrees celsius. Pelelehannya will still take an annual period," said Hidayat.
Regarding the influence of seawater circulation today, according to Hidayat, still comes from south to north. This resulted in no shift will occur iceberg.
In addition to time-consuming, shifting chunks of ice as deep as it could even be stopped because there is a possibility the bottom snagged on the seabed.
"In December 2010 the pattern of ocean circulation will change from north to south," he said. By changing the flow direction, ice blocks will move to the south with very low speed.
According to him, the phenomenon of separation of melting ice or ice blocks from the main glacier always occurred throughout history.
Exemplified, the state of Saudi Arabia even until harvest chunks of ice from glaciers in Antarctica to take water content bargaining.
"To my knowledge, Saudi Arabia has developed a withdrawal of glacier ice shelf of Antarctica since the 1980's to be transformed into bargaining water reserves," said Hidayat.
Hidayat said the ice blocks are located between Greenland and Canada. The temperature of sea water around the lump is still possible occurrence of freezing so that the mass of chunks of ice bigger.