GLACIERS And ICEBERGS - - -( This is the Last COLD E.W.P., in Two Parts.)

Part Two - ICEBERGS -

These Massive Sea Chunks of Ice, Calving and Floating by the Thousands, are a Unique Aspect of our Cold and Oceanic Wild Worlds, All their Own!

Personally, They have something of a Unique and Special Place with me! What a Beautiful and Grand Sight! And What a Great Part of our Total Wild & Natural World and Great Outdoors! From the Most Massive Mountainish of Bergs, Down to the Smallest of Chunks and Ice Flows Floating by! They All Have that Great Ice Hunk Beauty All the Same!

Beauty can also Equal Danger Too!, in their World! As in so Many Other Natural and Outdoors Matters as well!

Be it a Titanic type Collision, a Crashing Calveoff from a Glacier Face, complete with the Large Resulting Sea Wave!, or a Sudden Iceberg Tipover Shift! Among I'm Sure Others.

Icebergs can be Very Pretty and Attractive! And except for Small Fry, are Always an Imposing Sight! But Icebergs Can be, and Often Are, Very Dangerous as Well! Watch How Close you Get to One! And Don't be Caught Under a Calving One!, Nor Caught Up in it's Massive, Resulting Wave!

They Form Predominantly in Greenland and Antarctic Waters. But can also form Locally in Non-Polar Areas, where "Ordinary" Mountain Borne Glaciers Meet the Sea! But by Far the Vast Majority come from the Sprawling, Continental in Size, Antarctic and Greenlandic Ice Sheets. At some 90 % of the World's Total Ice!, and some 10 % of the World's Ice, Respectively! All Other World Ice Sources count for something like Less than 1 %! Not Only Continental in Dimension, these Ice Caps can be as Much as Two Miles High!

From Greenland, especially it's Western Coast, and From All Around Antarctica, they Calve!

In and Around Antarctica, they have an Entire Unobstructed, Globe Circling Polar Ocean, to Play, Drift, and Float About in! This is sometimes called the Antarctic Ocean. Itself made up of those Cold, Windy, Ruff, Southernmost Portions of All Three of the World's Greatest Oceans, -the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Indian. No Land Interrupts Anywhere!, Quite Unlike the Situation in the Northern Hemisphere. Though Southern South America and Antarctica's Palmer Peninsula make a Good, Joint Effort at a Pinchoff! Still, even that Leaves Nearly a Thousand Mile Gap!, -the Infamous Drake Passage. This Circumpolar South Sea, is the Area of the also Infamous Roaring 40s! The Counterpart of the Far Off North's Angry Atlantic!

This is the Stomping Ground, of the Antarctic Iceberg Breakoffs! Occassionally some Bergs Breaking Off from the Antarctic Ice Shelf, are as Big as Small Countries or States! On the Order of Belgium, Delaware, Rhode Island, or Connecticut! Small States and Countries!, -Mega Large Icebergs! This may have Increased somewhat Lately, and Where So, It could possibly have to do with any Global Warming that may be Going On.

In the North it's Greenland's Iceberg Alley! Along Greenland's West Coast, though I Don't See how Eastern Greenlandic Icebergs cannot also Appear. In the West, they are initially Shunted Northward, by the West Greenland Current. This eventually Takes them far enuf West, where they then Meet the South Flowing Labrador Current. Where they then Flow South often to Well Below the Grand Banks and Eastern Canadian Maritime Provinces! They can even Dip somewhat Below 40 Degrees North. -my Own Latitude! The Furthest Southerly Siting of a North Atlantic Iceberg!, I Beleive was as Far South as Bermuda! Thats about at the Latitude of North Carolina! They Play Havoc and are a Shipping Menace, to Everything within this Area!

Many Approach the Canadian Maritimes and East as well. They Make a Terrific Grinding Racket!, when they Beach up onto Places like the Labrador and Newfoundland Coast! It is Really Something to See, Hear, and Behold!

The International Ice Patrol, in Practice Largely the U.S. Coast Guard, (At Least as of my June 1968 National Geographic Source), -Keeps Tabs and Track On!, this Icy Parade! I'm Sure Canadian Bodies Well Participate as well. They are Marked for Better Visibility, Size and Other Characteristics are Noted, Positions and Track Projections are Relayed, Ships are Warned!

Eventually, of course, they Melt Away until they Merge entirely with the Ocean. This has to Accelerate in the Later Stages, Due Both to an Ever Smaller Mass to so Work on, and Increasingly Warmer Southern Waters. They've Held their Pride for a Good While! But the Sea eventually Wins Every Time!

Irreagularly Shaped as a Prevailing Rule, They are Often quite Inherently Unstable! As the Sea Works Over and Melts their Much Larger Undersides, Center of Gravitys, Weights and Balances, and Previous "Stabilitys" Become Repeatedly Upset! *Tipovers are Sudden and Commonplace!* Unpredictable too! Smaller but Still Sudden and Dangerous Shifts also Take Place!

An Iceberg can probably Split on you Without Warning as well! A kind of Sub-Calving of it's Own! Should you be Using one Mid-Ocean as an Emergency Float! Let Alone with Tipovers and Other Sudden Lurches and Shifts! *You* May be On such a Berg! Watch For and Be Wary of All of These!

The Vast Part of the Mass and Volume of an Iceberg, is of course Under Water! Large and Imposing as the Visible Above Surface Portion is!, -Thats Only "the Tip of the Iceberg"! Some 9 / 10ths is Hidden from Sight!, Invisibly Below the Surface! I've Heard Figures Vary here, but they're All in this Same General Ballpark. It would have to do with the particular Composition and Density of the Ice, How Much Bubbled Air may be Dissolve within, Sea Salinity Levels, Etc. But just as the Bulk of an Ice Cube as you may put into a Drink, is Mostly Below the Water Level of your Glass, So too is an Iceberg or Other Floe in the Ocean. It's just the particular Physics of the Way Ice Floats.

Beginning with Sharp, Jagged Edges at Calving!, the Sea, wherever and whenever it so Touches and Works on the Berg, Progressivly Rounds and Smooths these Out.

Icebergs even Change Color over Time! They Age Beautifully! Just Look at some of the Color Photo Sections of the appropriate Lonely Planet Travel Guides! And you will See what I Mean!

This Color Change has a Very Important and Useful Survival Application as well! You're gonna Want the Blue or Bluer Bergs, for your Fresh Water Source! This may Not be so Important with Continental Icesheet Born Bergs, which are Fresh Water to Start With anyway! But for Arctic Ocean Ones, Formed by the Freezing of the Ocean Surface Itself!, You're gonna Want the Blue or Bluer! This is an Arctic Fresh Water Source Must!

For Survival Purposes, You may be Able to Get Onto a Nearby Berg or Ice Floe, to Use such for Flotation Purposes!

Remember, however, that you are on a Cold Platform, that Shifts and Tipovers Can Occur!, and that Sooner or Later, your Float Platform is Going To Melt Itself Away!

Try to Find a Stably Shaped One, or at least one Reasonably so! This may be Hard to Gauge, with Most of the Berg Invisible Under Water!

This Float Platform will also Provide you with a Rich and Ready Fresh Water Source, Out Amidst this Saltwater Ocean! Don't Carelessly Over Chip Away though!, or you may Further Shorten the Life of your Float Platform!, even if only by a Little Bit! Out Here, -You Don't Want even That! Final Rescue could be a Hair'sbreadth Away!, -This could Make All the Difference!

If you Can't Find at least a Reasonably Stable Berg or Floe for your Float, then Chances are Virtually Certain!, that you'll Experience Shifts andor a Tipover!, Sooner or Later!

As to Major Subcategories and Types of Survival, The Only Two when it Comes to Icebergs out on the Open Ocean, would be Cold Survival and Ocean Survival. There is Little to No Coast Survival to speak of. Climbing Skills and Equipment, Especially Ice, Mountain, or Glacier type ones, could come in Very Useful and Handy. (In the Climbing up onto, Getting Around on, and Climbing Back Off, a Berg. Bergs will of course Vary, in Ease or Difficulty here.)

For Food, You're gonna have to Fish, andor Go After other Sea and Bird Life.

Fresh Water, -Shud be No Problem whatever, even Out Here with Salty Sea All Around. As mentioned earlier, Just Get it from your Very Berg!

Warmth, -Only the Chlothes and Other Bundling Ups as you've Already Got!, and have managed to Keep from Getting Wet, or can Dry in Time.

The Utility and Imperative of Building a Fire in this Cold, could be No Less than in a Land Portion of the Arctic! You Need Warmth and Dryness All the Same! On an Iceberg, that will probably Have to Come Exclusively from What you're Wearing!

Shelter, -No Plant Materials, Most Most Probably, No Rocks! Perhaps you can Make Use of the Ice Itself, for This, andor Hollow Something Out. Other than that, Shelter is just What Tents, Tarps, Bags, or Whatnot, as you Happen to Have Brot in with you!

Things such as Signaling can be Very Important! The Fire of earlier, assuming it can even be Built, has This additional Use here! And if you have anything to Cook, then for that purpose too!

Someone Shud ideally be On Watch at All Times! For Signaling and Rescue Purposes. For Berg "Shift Warning" Purposes. Among Others.

Even if Bergs could hypothetically have None of these Disadvantages and Difficulties, You'd Want to Get Off anyway! Sooner or Later!, and of course This Means Sooner! Because for just One Thing, your Iceberg Flotation Platform, is Gonna Sooner or Later Entirely Melt Away into your Surrounding Ocean!

All this Applies in the event you even Do Come Across an Iceberg or Floe, that you can Use as a Float! The Only Thing More Dubious than Survival Efforts on an "Iceberg Float"!, is Trying to Build and Keep, a Fire on One!

Chances are Better, that you'd be Facing Ocean Survival Alone! And Cold Ocean Survival Efforts at That!

However it's Not like All Bergs Cannot be Climbed Upon, and Made Use Of!

I Fondly Recall, a Picture I Came Across in a Book on Antarctica! It's one of those Old Time Drawings. From the Days of those Old Wooden Sailing Ships! And Early Antarctic Exploration. It Shows some Members of Such a Crew, Among the Icebergs of the Southern Antarctic Ocean. These Crew Members had Climbed Up on a Nearby Iceberg! They were there on a Fresh Water Collection Mission. The Sketch Clearly Shows a Number of them, at the Base of some Pretty Good Puddles, that had so Collected. They're Scooping Up Fresh Water, to Take Back to their Ship!

Others of the Crew, however, are Shown Having a Jolly Good Time!, Slideing Down a Good Hilly Section of the Berg, Having the Fun of the World! The Time of their Life! Their Ship is Shown Off in the Background, at a Goodly Distance. What Fun! And What an Adventure! At One and the Same Time! Old Time Sailors and Adventurers, and Current Ones, Did and Do Things like That!

They probably Took Turns, at Both the Fun and Games, and the Important and Serious Business at Hand, the Fetching of Fresh Water Supplies, for their Present and Future. Some of the Water Fetching Guys, probably Weren't Interested in the Ice Sliding Fun and Games, and so Deferred and Declined.

But To Each His Own! Here in the Drawing, and on the Berg, there was Room Enuff for All Such from All! Imagine that, -Having a Berg All to Yourselves like that! And Being Able to Let Loose so, Like Kids! There was No Pre-Empting Adult Responsibility Getting in the Way!, -Save Water Fetching! They Had the Chance for some Good Ole Jolly Merriment and Fun!, and They so Took it to Full Advantage!

It was Additionally a Great Chance to Get Off and Away!, for Awhile, from the Confines of their Ship! That probably Figured into the Jolly Ole Fun!

But even if Sea Life were a Paradise!, I for One would Have a Jolly Fun Time!, Sliding Down an Ice Hill on an Antarctic Iceberg, -Myself! They Did Too!

And there was Probably Nobody within a Few Thousand Miles or More!, of Those Guys! They Had the Whole Area to Themselves!, Not just the Iceberg!

Of course They Have to Be Aware and Alert to Tipover Possibilities!, as anyone else! As I'm Sure They were. But then again, they may have Located a Quite Stable Berg, as the Picture seems to Indicate. Still, on an Iceberg, You Keep Such Alertness Up!

I Like, Love, and Enjoy this Picture!, and Have from the Moment I Saw It!

Perhaps some of you have Seen it too. I've either Misplaced the Book, or I had Seen it in a Library. I would Like to Post this Picture, with this Post. But Between Unavailability, and Unfamiliarity at Present on How to Post a Picture, I'm Unable to at Present.

But some of you may Know What I Mean! And I'm Sure that Many of you, -Can just Picture It!

But Beyond All This, the Picture also Shows that Not All Icebergs are Total Climbing Demons!

Oh This Picture! And What it Stands For and Conveys! Adventure Fun on an Iceberg!, that you Have All to Yourselves! Coupled with the Crucial Business of in This Case, Getting Fresh Water.

These are Icebergs! This is Iceberg Survival Options. A Float, and a Fresh Water Source, are about the Only Things They Have in Abundance! They are of course So Beautiful, Dignified, and Magnificent!, in Their Own Right! And Can certainly Be Deadly Dangerous too! They Make For a Great and Unique Place All Their Own!, Among the Earth's Wild Places!, -Cold and Otherwise!



AFTERWORD - We've just been Thru a Survey of the Earth's Foremost Wild Places, -COLD. With Their Survival Aspects being a Major Part.

From Greenland, to Iceland, to Siberia, to the Wilds of Canada, to Alaska, to Kamchatka, to the Scandanavian Wilds, to the Aleutians and the Very Similar Kuriles, to Patagonia and Tierra, to and Around the Horn, to South Georgia and the Sandwiches, to the Falklands or Malvinas, to the Forested Wilds of Maine, to Both the Arctic and the Antarctic, and Any Other such COLD Places in Between! We've Been To and Thru them All!

You Now Have a Better Taste and Awareness of Such! Than you perhaps had Before.

Includeing of some Important general Survival Aspects of Such! Circumstance could *Have* Us in Any of These! Its Not Only a Matter of Liking, Loving, or Getting to Know Them Better as a Great World's Wild Place! It Can also Mean your Make It or Break It Survival!, Shud Circumstance Place you There! The Same of course Goes for the Many NON - Cold, World's Wild Places to Follow! You just May Have To Hunker Down and Survive!, in Any of These Someday! They Have Many Important Survival Implications.

Much of Survival and Well Being in any Given Environment, -Begins with an Awareness of the Conditions! It would be Good to Have at Least a Nodding Familiarity and Acquaintence, -with Such Great Wild and Outdoors of Places! This is Another Part of our Across the Board, Areas of Emergency and Survival Preparation. Know at least the General Environmental Conditions *of* Such World Wild Places, Know some Chief Survival Practices and Tips for Each!, to Say a Least!

We Can't Know Everything, but Someday you may be either Glad you Did!, or Rue and Regret that you Didn't! -Back When you Had Something of the Chance To!

Evident Also from this Grand Tour of the COLD, -Should Be that even in Today's World, -There *Are* Still Plenty of Wild Places Left! So Many Completely and Pristinely and Untouched!, So! This World is Still Far From Chock Full or Crowded Up! Its Far From being All De-Wooded or Depleted! What of This has Unfortunately been Done, is Surely a Cause for Concern. And there certainly has to be some Intelligent and Informed Development, as Well! But It Need Not Intrude into an Awful Lot of the World's Great Wild Places as I mention. And it's Far!, Far!, Far!, from True, -that All the World's Wild Places are Suppossedly Gone!

This has been Earth's Wildest Places, -The Survival Aspects, -COLD. We now Move into the Earth's Many Other Wild Places, Beyond just the Cold! -Though Many of These at Times, -Can be Far from Warm!

We're now Moving into the COOL Wild Areas of the World! There are Only Four of These. After that, we Shall Move into the World's Blazing Deserts, Followed by the Various Other of Earth's Wildest Places! Now Shed some of Those Layers from your Cold Gear!, -For We now Move into the Earth's Great Wild Areas, -COOL !

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