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 Icebergs
An iceberg is a fragment of a glacier, which has broken off as a result of the ocean waves melting the ice near the surface, leaving the upper portion unsupported. Most of the icebergs that menace Atlantic commerce have their origin in Greenland, which is covered with a coat of ice, forming a series of glaciers. The Arctic snows, frozen by pressure and alternative warm and cold weather, form a solid mass, which is forced, inch by inch, toward the sea. From the borders of these glaciers icebergs are broken off, swept down the coast by the Labrador current, and finally melted by the Gulf Stream. | One of the greatest elements of danger in icebergs is the fact that they float with only one-eight of their bulk above the surface. As to the shape of the submerged portion, a ship captain can make no guess. His only means of safety is to give the floating terror as wide a berth as possible. It is within reason to conjecture that the berg which sank Titanic may have been of unusual shape below the surface and that the ship struck when the pilot thought he was well outside the danger zone. Every year the Atlantic coast is bombarded from the frozen north with thousands of bergs, great or small. Icebergs, such as the one that sank Titanic, are one of three sources of peril to vessels navigating the North Atlantic. The others are fog and derelicts
Below is a list of disasters for which icebergs were Responsible. A majority occured off Newfoundland and the Grand Banks, near the Titanic's Grave.  |
| Ship Lost
Canadian |
titanic | Place
Mid-Atlantic |
titanic | Year
1863 |
titanic | Lives Lost
45 |
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