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An Iceberg Flipped Over, and Its Underside Is Breathtaking


gingerbread80

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gingerbread80

alex_cornell_antarctica-1.jpg

 

Snow-covered icebergs dominate the scene near the shore of the Antarctic Peninsula, the northernmost part of the icy south polar region. Between the sun, the water and icy peaks, the beauty can be quite literally blinding.

 

“Everything is reflective and everything’s white,” recalls filmmaker Alex Cornell, who vacationed there last month with his family. “People had said that the first time you go, you’re kind of so overwhelmed that you take a lot of pictures of your feet and you don’t really know what’s going on … I definitely felt that,” he says with a laugh.

 

While exploring Cierva Cove, a glacial bay off the peninsula, a scientist aboard Cornell’s boat became excited by one iceberg in particular. “Everything I was seeing was pretty exciting,” Cornell admits. “This particular iceberg at the time kind of blended in with all the crazy stuff we were seeing.”

 

But as they approached the mass, which rose about 30 feet out the water, Cornell understood his guide’s excitement. Whereas most iceberg tips are covered in snow or have been weathered by the elements, this one was free of debris, exposing glassy, aqua-green ice with water flowing through it—“almost like an ant colony,” he says.

 

Cornell’s guide suggested that the iceberg had recently flipped. Icebergs form when chunks of freshwater ice calve—or break off—from glaciers and ice shelves, as well as other icebergs. Because of the varying densities of ice and saltwater, only about 10 percent of an iceberg will ever show at the surface, and that protruding tip will gather dirt and snow. Melting can trigger calving, but it can also change the equilibrium of an iceberg, causing it to flip.


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Wow, that is truly stunning.  I want to make this image my desktop background but my Google search has not turned up a suitable image as they appear pixelated on my 25" monitor.  Does someone here have a link to a high quality photo of this scene suitable for my desktop background?  If so, I would be very grateful if they shared it with me.

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30 minutes ago, rasbridge said:

Wow, that is truly stunning.  I want to make this image my desktop background but my Google search has not turned up a suitable image as they appear pixelated on my 25" monitor.  Does someone here have a link to a high quality photo of this scene suitable for my desktop background?  If so, I would be very grateful if they shared it with me.

 

The higher resolution (1500 x1000) of Alex Cornell's images were published on Colossal. You can download the images below:

 

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/flip-1.jpg

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/flip-2.jpg

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/flip-3.jpg

 

Previews:

 

flip-1.jpg

 

flip-2.jpg

 

flip-3.jpg

 

 

More of Alex Cornell's images:

 

https://www.alexcornell.com/antarctica/

https://www.alexcornell.com/photos/

 

 

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Wow, my spouse and I are really going to enjoy those photos.  We greatly appreciate your efforts in finding them for us.

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