৯ আগস্ট, ২০২৪

"For more than 30 years, the world’s largest iceberg was stuck in the Antarctic. Five times the size of New York City’s land area and more than 1,000 feet deep..."

"... the mammoth piece of ice finally became loose in 2020 and began a slow drift toward the Southern Ocean. Now, A23a, as it’s known, is spinning in place. After leaving Antarctic waters, the iceberg got stuck in a vortex over a seamount, or an underwater mountain. Imagine a piece of ice about 1,500 square miles in area and as deep as the Empire State Building spinning slowly but steadily enough to fully rotate it on its head over the course of about 24 days."

The NYT reports.

Haven't used my "vortex" tag in a long time.

Were you aware of the "Southern Ocean"? "The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica.... The National Geographic Society recognized the ocean officially in June 2021...." 

How do we speak of the ocean/oceans? "The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. In English, the term ocean also refers to any of the large bodies of water into which the world ocean is conventionally divided...."

৫৫টি মন্তব্য:

Narr বলেছেন...

Yes, I was aware of the Southern Ocean, but not by way of personal experience.

My wife saw this story a few days ago and asked me the same question.

Static Ping বলেছেন...

The Antarctic Ocean is one of those things geography nerds argue over whether it actually exists or not. Some maps include it and others do not. What National Geographic officially recognizes barely matters.

Part of the problem with it is trying to define borders. The other oceans are loosely penned it by the continents. The Antarctic Ocean is more or less just the water around Antarctica, which is an odd way to define an ocean.

CJinPA বলেছেন...

Five times the size of New York City and as deep as the Empire State Building and as white as Staten Island and as cold as the meat locker at Katz's Deli and...

tim maguire বলেছেন...

My aquatic fun fact is, the Sargasso Sea is the only sea bounded on all sides by water.

rhhardin বলেছেন...

Descending ocean currents will attract anything that floats. The attracting currents will rotate owing to coriolis (objects try to move in straight lines while earth rotates under them).

Mike (MJB Wolf) বলেছেন...

See I do learn something every day, just by visiting Althouse. Thanks! TGIF

Fritz বলেছেন...

Um, yes, but I'm not all that clear on what a tort is.

PM বলেছেন...

Shackleton territory.

Quaestor বলেছেন...
এই মন্তব্যটি লেখক দ্বারা সরানো হয়েছে।
Quaestor বলেছেন...

Oceans make more sense than ocean singular. They are geographically distinct to such a degree that their distinctiveness is germane to numerous policy decisions. For example, the first supercarrier designs were proposed by the United States Navy in 1948. The fact that plan called for a warship too wide in the beam to use the Panama Canal spurred investigations into a new trans-oceanic sea-level canal, which were ultimately rejected, partly on environmental grounds, a rare consideration for the time. The sea level of the Pacific Ocean averages about 20 centimeters higher than the Atlantic's, and is somewhat higher in the tropics where an alternative to the Panama waterway could be conceivably practical. Consequently, the flow through a sea-level waterway would be predominately west to east, which could catastrophically disrupt fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico if not across the Atlantic.

Quaestor বলেছেন...

The difference in sea level arises from several physical factors. Primarily, it's due to the Pacific's higher mean temperature and lower salinity. These create a lower overall density in Pacific seawater compared to Atlantic seawater. Therefore, given any comparable mass of water between the two oceans, the Pacific mass occupies a greater volume.

Leland বলেছেন...

Pluto is a planet!

RideSpaceMountain বলেছেন...

"Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those woo favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think this iceberg is truly lost
And to say that this stranded ice
Is also great
And would suffice."

- Robert "Spinning Iceberg" Frost

tcrosse বলেছেন...

The Tappan Zee is entirely surrounded by New York State.

Marcus Bressler বলেছেন...

Add on an "e" and I'll share one with you

Marcus Bressler বলেছেন...

Probably the most amazing story of survival ever known. Not a man died.

Jersey Fled বলেছেন...

Picture New York City floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Not very big, is it?

s'opihjerdt বলেছেন...

Jersey Fled
Picture New York City floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.


Plisskin's Dream.

RideSpaceMountain বলেছেন...

Please stop broadcasting my wet dreams Mr. Telepath.

Two-eyed Jack বলেছেন...

Oceanus is a great, fresh-water stream which encircles the flat disc of the earth. It is the source of all of the earth's fresh-water--from the rivers and springs which draw their waters from it through subterranean aquifers to the clouds which dip below the horizon to collect their moisture from its stream.

Oceanos marks the outer boundary of the earth, which it surrounds with a "nine-fold" stream. The sun, moon, and stars rise from and set into its waters. At night the sun-god sails around its northern reach in a golden boat to reach his rising place in the east from his setting in the west.

Beyond Oceanos lies a dark and misty shore where the great sky-dome rests its hard edge upon the flat earth and where, from below, the walls of the great pit of Tartaros rise up to meet the earth and sky.

traditionalguy বলেছেন...

Will there be a test?

Rocco বলেছেন...

A large iceberg the size of a large iceberg.

Chris বলেছেন...

An 8-second vortex (well, 8-second exposure) in Massachusetts. https://flic.kr/p/F8J6XN

Paddy O বলেছেন...

I read the other day that if all the penguins in Antarctica decided to invade Ireland, each Irish would have to fight off 3.3 million penguins.

Paddy O বলেছেন...

Though my guess is the Irish would be helped by the puffins and I don't know how that would factor in

Yinzer বলেছেন...

My law professor enjoyed teaching us what a tort is. She simply pushed her finger into our arms and said she had just committed a tort against us. So it is basically any unwelcome intrusion into another person.

gilbar বলেছেন...

nope, i've NEVER IN MY LIFE heard of a "southern ocean"
I've known of the Antarctic Ocean since i was in grade school
(oh! i Also know what a woman is!)

Yinzer বলেছেন...

I am currently reading a Michael Crichton novel from 2004, State of Fear. A group of environmentalists try to stoke fear of climate change by creating fraudulent crises, one of which is to set off a line of explosive charges to calve off an iceberg like this. So far, the environmentalists have come to bad ends; hopefully this continues!

JK Brown বলেছেন...

Went to the Southern Ocean back in 1989. Well, just barely as storms stopped us from working so our plan to go to 70 S failed. We got just below 60 S but had to turn back to working north when time ran out. 60S is south of Cape Horn so there is nothing to disrupt the round and round flow of water and winds.

It was weird as you'd get a contact 24 Nm out and then the fog would come. Icebergs brought their own weather. Went up one morning where we'd been doing cast for hours to find five icebergs 50-12 miles out from us as they'd drifted in as we held station. Picked a nice keep your distance route out and on our way.

traditionalguy বলেছেন...

Moby Dick frozen in ice.

n.n বলেছেন...

Dog chasing tail. It could be worse. It could be an Ouroboros. Good luck, Mr, or is it Miss, Iceberg.

narciso বলেছেন...

Has it melted in four years

John henry বলেছেন...

As we deep- water men always reckoned, he made one year in three fairly lively for anybody having business upon the Atlantic or down there along the "forties" of the Southern Ocean

From Joseph Conrad' autobiographical "Mirror of the Sea" written 1906

I'm pretty certain I e seen earlier references to the southern ocean from 1800s or 1700s

John Henry

JZ বলেছেন...

Here’s another topic from no where. I’ve heard some call Lake Superior an inland sea. How does that square with my understanding of a sea as a body of salt water?

Lazarus বলেছেন...

"The National Geographic Society recognized the ocean officially in June 2021...."

Gerrymandering. The Antarctican lobby and "Big Iceberg" throwing money around behind the scenes. The Arctic Ocean is bounded by North America, Asia and Europe. The "Antarctic Ocean" is less contained. It's just the southern part of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

FullMoon বলেছেন...

Won't be long before youtuber or Tik tocker is out ridin' that thing.
Not me, I have responsibilities

effinayright বলেছেন...

Part of the Southern Ocean is the Ross Sea, named after Diana Ross of the Supremes---or so I'm told.

Gerda Sprinchorn বলেছেন...

Notice the appeal to innumeracy: they characterize the iceberg as 1,500 square miles. But lay people have no feel for square miles. Lay people do, however, understand miles, so the articles should say the iceberg is 40 miles by 40 miles, which is a lot less impressive. Go on a globe and try to measure 40 miles. It's tiny.

tommyesq বলেছেন...

A big iceberg the size of a small island.

Gospace বলেছেন...

Your understanding is wrong. Or not. Lots of definitions. The Great Lakes are sometimes referred to as inland seas. Sort of like- what's the difference between a brook, stream, and a river? And who determines if they have names? I was talking to our country historian one time. My county has a lot of lakes. Dozens, if not over a hundred. Only one has a name. And- it's not the biggest lake in the county.

John henry বলেছেন...

JZ the great lakes are "inland seas" (maybe "oceans"?) by act of Congress. There was some bill in the 90s that gave money to all states with a "seacoast" the Midwest states wanted their share so congress made all the great lakes "seas" so they qualified.

Leahy of Vermont complained that he wanted in so lake Champlain is also a "sea" by act of congress.

John Henry

Gospace বলেছেন...

I've heard the area referred to as the Southern Ocean since childhood. Then again, my grandfather and uncle were both merchant mariners who sailed those seas every so once in a while. The article is paywalled, but for those that have read it- is the calved iceberg blamed on global warming? Or is it contributing to either that or global cooling? In today's world- it's not allowed to be neutral.

Narayanan বলেছেন...

1 spin around every 24 days = must be communing and getting directions from MoonGod Chandra

Hannio বলেছেন...

There's also the Drake Passage, south of Tierra del Fuego. Named after the Drake. Gotta love the Drake!

Michael McNeil বলেছেন...
এই মন্তব্যটি লেখক দ্বারা সরানো হয়েছে।
Michael McNeil বলেছেন...

The Indian and Atlantic Oceans also lie at different levels—as the ancient Ptolemaic Greek engineers discovered when they built the antique equivalent of the Suez Canal. Rather than connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean, however, as does today's canal, the ancient “Canal of the Pharoahs” connected the Red Sea with the Nile—whereupon the Red Sea began flowing through the new canal into the Nile. The Greek engineers solved that problem (after disconnecting the novel junction while they figured it out) by inventing the lock, employed in canals (such as the Panama Canal) to this day.

The Godfather বলেছেন...

A purist (don't you hate them!) could say there's only one ocean, because they are all connected. But the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans don't have the same "sea level", so are they really connected? When a ship sails "around the horn" is it sailing up hill or down hill? If there were no Australia, wouldn't the "Indian Ocean" just be a part of the Pacific Ocean? Maybe calling large bodies of water separate "oceans" is just a convention, that may be useful in many circumstances, but not in others. I like the world that Two-Eyed Jack describes. Can I pick that one?

Iman বলেছেন...

Ice ice, baby… ice ice, baby

Narr বলেছেন...

I'm pretty sure that the Southern Ocean is referenced in the Hornblower series, and certain that it features in the Aubrey/Maturin novels.

My understanding is that the Southern/Antarctic Ocean has it's own wind and current systems that are relatively isolated from the waters farther north, as a consequence of the gaps south of Africa and South America which allow unobstructed circulation around the polar region.

All such terms are conveniences and products of context. What we call the North Sea appears on old British maps as the German Ocean; when does the island of Australia become the continent of Australia?

Craig Mc বলেছেন...

In my lifeteime Australians have always called it the Southern Ocean. It's responsible for a lot of our weather in the southern-most states.

boatbuilder বলেছেন...

I once read a really good book, Godforsaken Sea, about the Vendee Globe, a race in which people singlehandedly race gigantic Laser sailboats around the world, mainly by screaming around Antarctica in 40 foot waves for a couple of months.
I may need to read it again.

boatbuilder বলেছেন...

It's a big ice cube, though. Think about how much bourbon you'd have to have...
Also if you've ever been to Rhode island, that's a pretty damn big piece of anything.

Marcus Bressler বলেছেন...

The National Geographic Society, as with the Scientific American, went woke a long time ago and is not to be taken seriously. One more institution down the drain.

Dr.Bunkypotatohead বলেছেন...

That's where we get Southern chicken of the sea.

Rusty বলেছেন...

In any event as it travels north it will melt and not raise the level of the oceans by even a millimeter.