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Ross Sea Icebergs (B15A, C16, B15J, B15K, C25 and Nascent): Drift, weather and seismic data.

Entry ID: macayeal_0229546

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Summary

Abstract: During 2001-2006, 6 giant icebergs (B15A, B15J, B15K, C16 and C25) adrift in the southwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica, were instrumented with global positioning system (GPS) receivers, magnetic compasses, automatic weather stations (AWS), firn temperature profile sensors, seismometers, and automated cameras to monitor their behavior in the near-coastal environment and to record their exit into the ...

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Link: GET DATA

Description: This site mirrors the NSIDC website archive.

Link: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION

Description: NPR Web Archive: Alaskan Storm Plays Role of Butterfly for Antarctica

A scientist named Edward Lorenz once mused that a butterfly flapping its wings could cause a storm half-way around the world.

A storm in Alaska recently played the role of the butterfly for an iceberg located at the South Pole.

The Antarctic B-15 iceberg broke into pieces in October 2005, but scientists didn't know what caused the ice shift. But two researchers recently discovered the ice shift originated about 8,000 miles away –- in the Gulf of Alaska.

When B-15 broke off the Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000, two geologists from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University decided to track it using a seismometer, the device used to measure earthquakes. A year after installing the device, they began to analyze the data.

"The first thing we saw were signals from the great tsunami that devastated parts of the Indian Ocean back in December of 2004," says researcher Doug MacAyeal. "It was telling that we were able to see this event come into Antarctic waters and rock the icebergs."

McKale and his colleagues were more interested in what happened on October 27, 2005, the day the iceberg suddenly broke apart into a number of smaller pieces. The breakup didn't make sense to MacAyeal.

"We said to ourselves 'What in the world would make this darn iceberg break up on October 27, a day of roughly nothing going on,'" he says.

Using the seismometer, MacAyeal and his colleagues discovered that the iceberg had been hit by a series of waves 13,500 km away. They drew a line on a map that was about 8,000 miles away from B15 and wound up in the Gulf of Alaska.

"And lo and behold, there was a very fierce intense onset of winter storm in exactly the place our science had predicted the waves had come from," MacAyeal says.

He asked a colleague who makes surfing forecasts to determine how big the waves from this storm would have been.

"The wave heights for the storm were above 45 feet," MacAyeal says. "So these were monstrous waves."

By the time the waves traveled from the Gulf of Alaska to Antarctica, they were just a powerful swell. MacAyeal thinks the waves caused the iceberg to repeatedly pound the seabed, causing the great explosion.

MacAyeal notes that some climate forecasts predict more powerful storms as a result of global warming. He says that the B-15 story is evidence that those storms could hasten the breakup of other icesheets in Antarctica.

His findings are reported in the latest issue of Geophysical Research Letters.

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Description: PI's website

Multimedia Sample

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Description: February 8, 2007 NOAA-15 image showing B-15J. The new iceberg can be seen. Image shows AWS temperature in degrees Celsius.

Geographic Coverage

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Spatial coordinates

N: -78.0

S: -78.0

E: -178.0

W: -178.0

Data Set Citation

Dataset Originator/Creator: Douglas R. MacAyeal

Dataset Title: Iceberg Data

Dataset Series Name: Series A

Dataset Release Date: August 15, 2008

Dataset Release Place: Chicago, IL

Dataset Publisher: University of Chicago

Version: 1.0

Data Presentation Form: asci text files and Matlab files

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 2001-01-25

Stop Date: 2008-06-31

Paleo Temporal Coverage

Chrono Unit:

PHANEROZOIC > CENOZOIC

Location Keywords

CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > ROSS SEA

Data Resolution

Latitude Resolution: 10 m
Longitude Resolution: 10 m
Horizontal Resolution Range: 1 meter - < 30 meters
Vertical Resolution: 0.1 m
Vertical Resolution Range: < 1 meter
Temporal Resolution: 1/100 sec
Temporal Resolution Range: < 1 second

Science Keywords

CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > ICEBERGS

SOLID EARTH > TECTONICS > EARTHQUAKES

ISO Topic Category

CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE

GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

OCEANS

Platform

FIELD SURVEYS

LABORATORY

FIELD INVESTIGATION

Instrument

CAMERAS

ANEMOMETERS

Project

EOSDIS > Earth Observing System Data Information System

ESIP > Earth Science Information Partners Program

CD > China Dimensions

Quality http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/china/econ/ybook/ybk90sources.html

Access Constraints None

Use Constraints The University of Michigan Center of China Studies (CCS), University of
Washington China in Time and Space (CITAS) and Trustees of Columbia University
...

Ancillary Keywords

CIESIN > Agriculture and Food Security > Agricultural Production > Agricultural Outputs

CIESIN > Agriculture and Food Security > Agricultural Production > Agricultural Products

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Originating Center

SEDAC

Data Center

Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center

Data Center URL: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/
Dataset ID: CIESIN_SEDAC_CD_CTY_ECON_YRBK

Data Center Personnel
Name: SEDAC USER SERVICES Phone: +1 845-365-8920 Fax: +1 845-365-8922 Email: ciesin.info at ciesin.columbia.edu Contact Address: 61 Route 9W, P.O. Box 1000 City: Palisades Province or State: NY Postal Code: 10964 Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution Media: Online FTP

Distribution Format: ARCE

Fees: 0

Distribution Media: Online FTP

Distribution Format: DBF

Fees: 0

Personnel

SEDAC USER SERVICES

Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Phone: +1 845-365-8920

Fax: +1 845-365-8922

Email: ciesin.info at ciesin.columbia.edu

Contact Address:

61 Route 9W, P.O. Box 1000

City: Palisades

Province or State: NY

Postal Code: 10964

Country: USA

CIESIN METADATA ADMINISTRATION

Role: DIF AUTHOR

Phone: +1 845-365-8988

Fax: +1 845-365-8922

Email: metadata at ciesin.columbia.edu

Contact Address:

61 Route 9W, P.O. Box 1000

City: Palisades

Province or State: New York

Postal Code: 10964

Country: USA

Publications/References

United States Department of Agriculture Extension Research Service (USDA/ERS), and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) (199609), China Dimensions Data Collection: Agricultural Statistics of the People's Republic of China: 1949-1990, NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), Saginaw, MI, http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/cddc-china-agricultural-s...

Extended Metadata Properties

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Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 1996-09-24

Last DIF Revision Date: 2012-09-28

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