Operation IceBridge - Icebergs

  • Released Monday, December 9, 2019
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Icebergs start as land ice—snow that has accumulated on land and, over the course of many years, has been compacted into ice. When this glacial ice flows downstream and reaches the sea, cracks in the ice are widened as warm water and air melt the ice from below and above, respectively. When these cracks become large enough, pieces break off like fingernail clippings and drift into the water as icebergs.

Icebergs seen from the P3-Orion aircraft during the 2017 Arctic campaign.

NOTE: The audio on this clip varies widely and includes loud aircraft noise. We advise turning down/off sound when previewing this item.

4K footage of P3-Orion aircraft flying over icebergs to the calving front of the Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland during the 2017 Arctic campaign.

NOTE: The audio on this clip varies widely and includes loud aircraft noise. We advise turning down/off sound when previewing this item.

For More Information

See https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/index.html

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Monday, December 9, 2019.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:45 PM EDT.

Missions

This visualization is related to the following missions: