Question

In 1987, a gargantuan iceberg broke away from the Ross Ice Sheet in Antarctica. It was approximately a rectangle with dimensions 154 km long, 35.0 km wide, and 250.0 m thick.

a) What is the mass of this iceberg, given that the density of ice is 917 kg/m³?

b) How much heat transfer in joules is needed to melt the iceberg?

c) How many years would it take sunlight alone to melt ice this thick if the ice absorbs an average of 117 W/m², 12.0 h per day?

Answer 1