From the sinking of the Titanic to fashionable bottled water: Here's 14 fascinating facts about icebergs

With the giant B-31 iceberg on the move, and causing sleepless nights for sailors, find out more about these incredible formations and their properties

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Immense: B-31 has broken away from its glacier and is heading out to sea

When an iceberg half the size of London breaks free from an Antarctic glazier and crashes into open waters, it's enough to give anyone nightmares.

At 20 miles long and 12 miles wide, the so-called B-31 is large enough to lead Nasa to monitor its movements via satellite.

The rock solid ice sheet is 500 yards at its thickest point and is causing panic for sailors who navigate the frozen shipping lanes.

We know this one is a whopper but what else is there to know about these freezing platforms of ice?

1) Icebergs come in all shapes and sizes

Float: Massive iceberg off the coast of Greenland

They range from ice-cube-sized chunks to ice islands the size of a small country.

The term "iceberg" refers to chunks of ice larger than 16ft across.

Smaller icebergs, known as bergy bits and growlers, can also be dangerous for ships because they are harder to spot.

2) You can harvest them

Fresh: Melted iceberg is sold bottled in stores

Guus Backelandt, a Dutch businessman, works in the iceberg harvesting business.

His iceberg bottled water brand, Iceberg Water, is basically melted iceberg in a bottle.

He produces 50,000 bottles of water each year.

3) They get in the way

Dangers: hundreds of icebergs clog up shipping lanes in the North Atlantic

Greenland is a nursery for icebergs and is responsible for the vast majority of icebergs found in the North Atlantic.

Each year around 400 icebergs drift from Greenland into the shipping lanes off Newfoundland, forcing commercial ships and fishing vessels to be on constant guard.

4) They are famous for getting in the way

Tragedy: how the Mirror reported the Titanic's sinking

On April 14 1912 the Titanic, the largest passenger ship of the time, struck an iceberg and sank.

Hailed as 'unsinkable', the famous vessel is believed to have struck as mile-long iceberg which ruptured its hull and sent it to the ocean floor.

5) They inspired a patrol

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Safe: patrols have kept shipping lanes clear since 1912 disaster

After the Titanic sank near Newfoundland in 1912, Britain, the United States and other countries formed the International Ice Patrol to warn ships of the dangers.

Using airplanes and radars to track icebergs that float into major shipping lanes, the organisation continues until to present day providing vital information for vessels.

6) They could be Dutch

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The term "iceberg" most likely originates from the Dutch term "ijsberg", which means ice mountain.

7) They have inspired a theme park ride

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Titanic: theme park will recreate disaster ship

There's already been a Hollywood movie about the Titanic disaster but now it seems a Chinese company hopes to build a £100m theme park based around the disastrous voyage.

A simulator will allow people to board a replica ship, modelled after the Titanic’s sister ship, the RMS Olympic, and test out new technology which mimics what it was like to be onboard when it struck the iceberg.

Light and sound effects will make visitors fear they are sinking. The park in Sichuan is due to open in 2016.

8) Shape matters


Icebergs are classified by their shape. Tabular icebergs have steep sides and a flat top like a plateau, while non-tabular ones are more likely to have irregular rounded tops, spires, and sloping sides.

9) They are colourful

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Most icebergs are white in color, but some may appear blue or even green.

Ice is full of tiny air bubbles that scatter all colour wavelengths the same amount, giving the ice a white appearance.

If the ice is compressed, the bubbles are squeezed out and the blue light is scattered much more than other colours – making the ice appear blue.

10) They can be really colourful

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Despite their sub-zero temperatures, icebergs can also boast multi-coloured algae growing underneath them, sometimes showing a stripy green pattern when they roll over.

11) They have hidden depths


Famously, up to 90 per cent of an iceberg is to be found under water.

12) They provide a buffet for sealife

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As icebergs melt, they leak nutrients into the ocean around them.

Recent studies have shown that the water surrounding icebergs teems with plankton, fish, and other sea life.

13) They are ancient

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Age: the ice which forms the structures is thousands of years old

The ice that makes Arctic icebergs is 3,000 – 6,000 years old, which coincides with a period in earth's history which saw a huge amount of ice-creation in the Arctic fields.      

14) The B-15 holds the record

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Icebergs line the Ross Dependency of the South Ocean

In March 2000, the largest iceberg ever measured broke away from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

The iceberg, which was christened the B-15, was a whopping 170 miles long and 25 miles wide  – about the same size as Jamaica.

However over time, it shattered into smaller pieces and melted away.

Find out more: 100 Years of Titanic from the Daily Mirror