Giant iceberg heading for Australia!
SYDNEY, Australia - December 9, 2009 - Scientists say that a giant iceberg double the size of Sydney Harbour is on a slow but steady collision course with Australia.
The mammoth chunk of ice, which measures 12 miles long and five miles wide, was spotted floating surprisingly close to the mainland by scientists at the Australian Antarctic Division (ADD).
Known as B17B, it is currently drifting 1,000 miles from Australia's west coast and is moving gradually north with the ocean current and prevailing wind.
Dr. Neal Young, a glaciologist working for the ADD, said that if the iceberg eventually reached Australia waters, it would crash into the continental shelf causing a magnitude three to to four tremor.
However, Dr. Young said the iceberg was unlikely to hit the Australian mainland. He said if it continued on its path north, it would eventually break up into hundreds of smaller icebergs.
"As the waters warm, the iceberg will thin out, so it is not going to get to Australia, the further north it goes, the more it break up," he said.
The mammoth chunk of ice, which measures 12 miles long and five miles wide, was spotted floating surprisingly close to the mainland by scientists at the Australian Antarctic Division (ADD).
Known as B17B, it is currently drifting 1,000 miles from Australia's west coast and is moving gradually north with the ocean current and prevailing wind.
Dr. Neal Young, a glaciologist working for the ADD, said that if the iceberg eventually reached Australia waters, it would crash into the continental shelf causing a magnitude three to to four tremor.
However, Dr. Young said the iceberg was unlikely to hit the Australian mainland. He said if it continued on its path north, it would eventually break up into hundreds of smaller icebergs.
"As the waters warm, the iceberg will thin out, so it is not going to get to Australia, the further north it goes, the more it break up," he said.
