The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-11-08
HOW ICEBERGG.S FORM
ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL oF
TIE WORKS OF NATURE.

Their ResistIess Way to the Sea.
Or the many things Of interest which
engage ones attention on voyage to
the far north there is none more -fas-
cinating than the study Of icebergs. II
any person who has never seen these
remarkable and beautiful forms will
look at piece Of ice as it floats freely
ir a tumbler of water, he will form 4
most imperfect idea Of what an iceberg
really looks like.
Perhaps the only feature which the
floating ice mountain and the fragment
of ice appear. on consideration, to have
in common. is that they both lave an
immense proportion OF their bulk un-
der water-the exact proportion beng
somewhat greater IN fresh water than
in salt water; there being in salt water
about seven-eighths OF the entire mass
under water, varying, of course, more
or less in different ATTITUDES, according
to the saitness Of the sea and the con-
-seuuent difference of the buoyancy
given to objects floating therein.
And here it may be said that it is
most difficult, when one is looking at
sn iceberg, to steady the mind from
wandering a great deal from the real
ization of So simple fact as this. ow-
ing, one would suppose, to the difficulty
of conceiving Of the enormous quantity
of ice which is hidden below the seq
level Of the berg-in the case Of some
of the larger bergs implying many mil
lions of tons Of ice.
One striking difference between the
appearance Of the iceberg and that
of our lump of ice is the seemingly
general opaqueness of the berg and the
smooth and dazzling whiteness of its
surface, much Of it presenting the ap-
pearance Of frosted silver, the frac-
lures or vents which are frequently
visible on its glittering faces being
generally emerald green, merging into
q blue, varying from that Of turquoise
almost to indigo.
Presently it will appear that an ice
berg must always consist OF frozen
fresh water. Frozen sea water, it is
true. does occur in vast quantities in
the sea, but this is in general quite
different in form and size and entirely
different in the origin Of its formation.
This ice is called Loe ice, pack ice or
field ice, according to where and how it
is disposed.
The formation Of icebergs is some
thing like this: The whole Of the in
terror of the continent Of Greenland,
which consists Of upward of 100000
square miles Of mountainous plateaus.
is perpetually covered to a depth of
many hundred feet with one vast
desert Of snow, called the lice cap"
This receives constant increase Of
newly fallen snow. that during the
summer becomes, by the action Of the
sun and wet weather by day. and by
regelation at night, changed into n
granulated condition.
Afterward it is recongealed into ice,
and, being impelled by enormous pres
sure from behind and above, throws
off O. great number OF rivers Of ice, or
glaciers, as they are called, presenting
the appearance Of a noble torrent sud-
denly petrifed by some overwhelming
force.
The snowfields, which lie ut the up
per part Of every glacier, are composed
of crystallized snow, which continues
unchanged so long as it remains dry.
but undergoes a great transformation
when the sun, melting the upper sur
face, allows the water to trickle down
into the substance Of the mass Of snow.
This fluid congealing again during
the night transforms the snow into
granulated mass formed Of small.
round icicles, half snow and half ice.
By the repetition Of this process
which also displaces the air, and by
pressure from the subjacent layers, the
whole mass is now united and consoli-
dated to form ice. AS an Illustration
OF regulation Of ice when the air Is ex-
cludetl, we may take two pieces Of ice
and under water place them together
so that they touch. They will immedi-
ately freeze together. AS a string Of
small fragments Of ice may easily thus
be formed, so also are chains Of Ice
bergs sometimes met with.
From the interior these glaciers wend
their slow and resistless way down the
mountain sides or through the valleys
toward or into the sea. AS the width
and length, so does the height or thick
ness of the glacier vary, in some in
stances the measurement being as
much as 300 or 400 feet. rising out Of
the sea or ford like solid wall Of
glass, with an unknown and almost un-
fathomable depth Of Ice below the sen
level.
The foot Of the glacier, where 1t
reaches the sea. may often be many
miles in width. The great Humboldt
glacier has precipitious facial edge Of
some 60 miles in length. The disrup-
ton Of great masses Of it's substance,
between the combined action Of the
upraising force Of the tides on its un-
der surface and it's own overhanging
weight as it protr1des down into the
sea, accompanied at such moment by
q detonation and thunder like the noise
Of artillery, forms icebergs.
AS the immense mass strikes the wa
ter many fragments, forming smaller
bergs are shaken off. The white foam
swirls around the vortex formed by the
descending mass, and while it struggles
to steady itself in its new home the
billows viii IL arise from the disturbed