Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1913-12-12
|CITY. FLAT TENANTS MAKES WA7ERVAR
Claimed Iceberes Have Health,
Effect on Ocean,
Montreal Professor Bases His rh...
on Experiments In Belle ,,,.
Straits - Water Chilled Nv
f berg Does Not Spread

nc peiiel mas long prevailed among
seafaring men that the approach y
icebergs could be detected by tho ~
creasing chill of the water CT
views were quite natural, for thsS
were assumed on the ground that ~.
cooling influence of the melting ios
rendered the water ice cold a cona,
ton which could be shown by tho ~
servation of submerged thermomete,s
Such beliefs are radically wron,
and If one is to believe the resu,t. -
observations taken by Canadian eo,N
eminent vessel during the past sumI
mer, theories concerning iceber,,
must be revised. 1t was found th,t
the water chilled by the berg does mt
spread outward, but owing to m
greater density, sinks downward Thi.
movement draws the surface water
toward the ice, and the surface en-,
rents, not being cooled by normal yer
teal circulation, grow warmer as they
near the iceberg. H. T. Barnes Of Ma
Gill University, Montreal, gives some
further details of the work of thu
steamer Montcalm, as follows: "
Careful records were made Of thA
temperature effects OF icebergs and
land. These tests have shown con,
clusively that it is the rise Of the tenn
perature which is the direct action Of
the melting iceberg, and that when
fall Of temperature is observed mean
ice, it Is due to the influence of cold.
er current from the north in which
the iceberg is carried. The cooling
influence of the ice itself Is very
small.
"As a good example Of how icebergs
and groups Of icebergs affect the wa
ter temperature, a microthermogram
from the records which were obtained
in a westward passage through the
Straits of Belle Isle shows that in
every case the approach of ice caused
a rise of temperature. n
1.-THE explanation of this iceberg Ell
feet was founded on Pettersson's the
DRY Of ice melting in salt water. By
this theory, which can easily be Vert
fed by a simple experiment, ice melt
ing in salt water produces three cur
rents; first, current of sea water
cooled by the ice, which sinks down.
ward by gravity; second, current Of
warm sea water moving toward the
ice; third, a current Of light fresh
water from the Ice, which rises and
spreads over the surface Of the salt
water.
II at first thought that it was this I
surface current of fresh water that IN \
fluenced the microthermometer in tho
actual sea tests. The fringe Of this
lighter water woItld be warmer than
the sea water on account Of the action
Of the sun aSSd scattered radiation,
which is very strong at sea. The light
er water wS Id retain the heat be-
cause it coui not mix readily with
the sea wate1 Near the iceberg a
considered thatAa fall Of tempear1uls
would result from the cooling IN
fluence of the surface current OF ffesA'
er water.
"My recent tests have shown, now D
ever, that an iceberg melts so Slowly I
that no effect of the dilution can %
detected even right beside the oersy
Larger variations were found over
different parts of the sea than Wef0
obtained in the proximity OF Ice
my tests have shown that an ICE
berg probably causes only two OF ~. 4
Peterson currents-that Is, COW
current sinking downward, carrying 4
with it all the melted ice water anu
horizontal surface current OF sea wa
ter flowing in toward the Ice TO cau,s
it's melting. By this means we snou'u &
expect the sea in the immediate plvA
nifty of icebergs to be warmer 1han
farther away, because the sea suils %
current is moving inward toward w
berg, and does not show IN !ne Nv
NAL verticle circulation when 'eu.. .
to keep the sea surface temper"'u' n
cooler. ,3
1T is interesting to find that a. ~
berg causes it's own current o, 'Na 49,,
er water, thus providing for us wv
destruction. Abundant evidence y s
hand to show the melting process 8
ing on under the water llne'
Another interesting fact brougns - 4 !.
by Mr.. Barnes is the large amour ..4s, \
dissolved air in berg ice. leo " ~ Y
made with bits chopped from NJ, . uo \
effervesces, he says, almost ilAe .. ~
water. He thinks that the fep ,.h
sudden sinking Of the bergs W." W" = b
loud report may be due 10 .u ua,. n 4
plosion from air pent up IN 'n'D
terror. g9