Six-Way 91 Icebergs 冰山

1. Six-Way 91 Icebergs 冰山 Fog霧at sea is dangerous. But icebergs at sea are terrifying可怕的. Just the mention提到of icebergs and we immediately立刻think Titanic. Even though that ship struck撞擊a large berg, we know ice bergs can be even larger. One of the largest ever seen was in the Antarctic南極 region區域. It was 60 miles wide寬. It was over 200 miles long. Let us compare 比較it to one of our states洲. It was twice兩倍as big as the state of Connecticut美國康乃狄克 州. An even more important measure測量of size is the depth深度of an iceberg.

2. For example, the Antarctic berg towered聳立about 400 feet above the surface表面of the ocean. But this was only about an eighth to a tenth of its total mass塊. Most of the berg－3,600 feet in this case－was under water. How are icebergs formed形成? The iceberg first of all一開始was part of a glacier冰河or ice cap冰帽. It is 1,000 feet thick厚near the coast岸邊and 6,000 feet thick in the middle. The 6,000 foot portion部份is heavy beyondimagination超乎想像.

4. This weight in the middle puts pressure on施壓the whole ice cap. The pressure pushes out the ice at the ends. The ends are pushed into the sea. When these ends break off破碎, they become floating漂浮的icebergs. Let’s shift轉換to the North Atlantic北大西洋. The bergs here break off the ice cap covering Greenland格陵蘭島.

5. The danger is that some of these bergs float into the routes路徑of transatlantic橫渡大西洋的liners. April, May, and June are the worst months. During these months, ships take a more southerly route. Ships traveling at nights are in special danger. After the Titanic, an ice patrol巡邏/偵查was formed形 成to protect保護all ships. Ice patrols use planes and ships to locate確定…位置icebergs. The patrol reports the position of all icebergs. It also charts在地圖上標出 the bergs’ probable courses路線/方向. No one wants another Titanic!