How long can a giant iceberg last in the ocean before it melts completely away?

[astro]

Like this big boy.

Giant iceberg drifts into south polar seas

Any stats or estimates on the limetime in the water of these big dog ice cubes? Are we talking months, years… what?

An iceberg more than twice the size of the ACT has ventured into the south polar seas, after wrenching itself free of the Antarctic ice shelf.

David Vaughan - of the British Antarctic Survey - says at 200 kilometres long, 30 kilometres wide and about 200 metres thick, C-19 is one of the biggest icebergs seen in recent years. He says the iceberg is still in the Ross Sea, about 300 kilometres from the ice-front from which it has broken off. Mr Vaughan says it will not start melting until it leaves the cold polar waters. C-19’s formation on the Ross Ice Shelf was first spotted in May by the US National Ice Centre. A European environment satellite then monitored its gradual break-out into the open sea.

The nearest land to C-19 is New Zealand, several thousand thousand kilometres away

Need a few cubes for that drink Ice Wolf?

[bibliophage]

My old copy of the Guinness Book of Records mentions an “ice island” of 140 mi[sup]2[/sup] that was first sighted in 1946 and tracked for 17 years.

[David_Simmons]

*Originally posted by astro *
**Like this big boy.

Any stats or estimates on the limetime in the water of these big dog ice cubes? Are we talking months, years… what?
**

Here is a section from the *Britannica[/] on rate of iceberg melting.

“For mild sea conditions an iceberg deteriorates at a rate of height decrease of two metres per day in 0 to 4 C (32 to 39 F) water, and three metres per day in 4 to 10 C (39 to 50 F) water. Destruction of icebergs in warm water is increased during stormy weather, when mechanical erosion of icebergs is added to the thermal effects of air and water. During the erosion process icebergs usually take on the form of a saddle, because erosion at one pole of the major axis of the iceberg results in that point rising, while the other end of the major axis is being eroded. Subsequently the latter end, owing to loss in weight, arises, and this rocking back and forth continues while constant erosion is occurring along the minor axis leading, usually, to a bipeaked or saddle-shaped structure.”