What is that great, shining shape floating in the cold, gray water of the northern sea ? Is it a mountain of snow ? Is it an island of ice where the Frost Giant live ? Is it the great, cold castle of the Snow King ?
No, it's none of these things. It's an iceberg - one of the enormous chunks of ice that float in the ocean near the North and South poles. An iceberg can be as big as a mountain, as wide as an island, and as beautifully shaped as a castle. Many icebergs weigh millions of tons and are many miles (kilometers) wide.
Giant sheets of ice cover the South Pole and a large part of Greenland, near the North Pole. Icebergs are huge pieces that break off from the edges of these ice sheets. The bergs drift along in the ocean until they reach warmer water. Then they begin to melt and break apart. In time, they melt completely and become part of the ocean's water.
An iceberg may stick far up out of the water. It may tower over great ships and make them look like toy boats. But the part above the water is only a tiny bit of the whole iceberg. The part below the surface is nearly eight times bigger than the part we see.
No, it's none of these things. It's an iceberg - one of the enormous chunks of ice that float in the ocean near the North and South poles. An iceberg can be as big as a mountain, as wide as an island, and as beautifully shaped as a castle. Many icebergs weigh millions of tons and are many miles (kilometers) wide.
Giant sheets of ice cover the South Pole and a large part of Greenland, near the North Pole. Icebergs are huge pieces that break off from the edges of these ice sheets. The bergs drift along in the ocean until they reach warmer water. Then they begin to melt and break apart. In time, they melt completely and become part of the ocean's water.
An iceberg may stick far up out of the water. It may tower over great ships and make them look like toy boats. But the part above the water is only a tiny bit of the whole iceberg. The part below the surface is nearly eight times bigger than the part we see.
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