Yes, it is Summer down there; but, that is when the icebergs and packice move!
Quote:
Originally Posted by canarymoon
OK - this may not make a whole lot of difference, but wouldn't January be part of the Antarctic summer???
"Antarctic Summer" seems like an oxymoron to this Floridian, but there realy IS such a thing... technically, anyway.
The Summer down there is when it is the most dangerous Ice Wise. In the winter, the ice pack stops the ice flows/bergs which circumnavigate Antarctica. (those bergs above the latitude of the ice pack would still be roaming). In Summer, it breaks up, and that is when all the ice starts moving.
Here is a picture of the Antarctic ice pack (probably in the winter). In the summer, the pack around the continent breaks up and everything starts moving again.
You can see the big pinensula. To the left (West) is the Drake Passage and the South Shetland Islands.
Remember the pictures of the Explorer sinking? Remember all the pictures in open water, but when she actually sunk she was in the ice pack that the winds had blown?
So - you are saying that all the gray colered stuff in the picture ... the potential is that all, or a large part of it, could break away and go floating around in the summer?
Yes. That is the cycle that happens every summer. What you see in light grey is just the seasonal pack ice. It locks up any ice flows or bergs that get trapped inside, and then lets them go in the summer. The bergs and flows are constantly ( except when locked up)circling Antarctica and drift further and further away as they do.
So, as they get farther and farther away, they encounter warmer and warmer water . .
Wonder what is the farthest north an antarctic iceberg has been sighted? I think I have heard - somewhere - of some remants making it to the Southern Caribbean... but I would think (if true) that that is quite rare.
Do you know of any verified sightings or encounters that far north?
So, as they get farther and farther away, they encounter warmer and warmer water . .
Wonder what is the farthest north an antarctic iceberg has been sighted? I think I have heard - somewhere - of some remants making it to the Southern Caribbean... but I would think (if true) that that is quite rare.
Do you know of any verified sightings or encounters that far north?
Here is a link to the list of current know icebergs they are tracking in Antarctica and their coordinates. Current Antarctic Iceberg Positions
Keep in mind that some of the islands they are going around are in Antarctica near the penninsula
Deception Island is at about 63 degrees South and 60 degrees 37 minutes West. The Explorer sank at 62.24 degrees South and 57.16 degrees West. As I understand it, you are officially in Antarctica when you reach 60 degrees south. As you can see by the link to the map I posted in my original post, The ship is also going near Elephant Island. Here is a picture of the Explorer off of Elephant Island >>> MV Explorer, anchored off Elephant Island, Antarctica on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
This isn't like doing the Inside Passage or Fjords up in Alaska where they only have a few glaciers calving and there is lots of help right nearby. This is out in the middle of nowhere.
Pictures of Icebergs in Drakes passage at 64 degrees South in January 2004 >>> 1-23/24
Here is a link (java) showing current sea-surface temps. The white is what is still frozen. The little black spots in the water to the NW next to the peninsula are the South Shetland Islands. Oceanweather Inc: Current Marine Data
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