The word iceberg is a partial loan translation from the Dutch word ijsberg, literally meaning ice mountain, cognate to Danish isbjerg, German Eisberg, Low Saxon Iesbarg and Swedish isberg.
The largest iceberg on record was an Antarctic tabular iceberg measuring 335 by 97 kilometres (208 by 60 mi) sighted 240 kilometres (150 mi) west of Scott Island, in the South Pacific Ocean, by the USS Glacier on November 12, 1956. The largest iceberg in recent history, named B-15, was measured at nearly 300 by 40 kilometres (186 by 25 mi) in 2000. Icebergs that calve from glaciers in Greenland are often irregularly shaped while Antarctic ice shelves often produce large tabular (table top) icebergs. Icebergs vary considerably in size and shape. Icebergs are considered a serious maritime hazard. Much of an iceberg is below the water's surface, which led to the expression ' tip of the iceberg' to illustrate a small part of a larger unseen issue. Smaller chunks of floating glacially-derived ice are called 'growlers' or 'bergy bits'. An iceberg in the Arctic Ocean Icebergs in Greenland as filmed by NASA in 2015Īn iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 m long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water. For other uses, see Iceberg (disambiguation).
