20070213_drygalskifiord_0014

A weathered tabular iceberg with striations floating in the Southern ocean at Drygalski Fjord. Tabular icebergs have broken off from an ice shelf. Newly formed tabular icebergs have nearly vertical sides and flat tops. In the Antarctic, they may be tens of kilometers wide, up to 160 km (100 miles) long, and as much as 300 m (1000 ft) thick, with about 30 m (100 ft) exposed above the sea surface. Drygalski Fjord is at the southern end of South Georgia and was used as a haven and mooring by whalers. While icebergs come in many shades, this is the only iceberg I have ever seen which was smokey color on one end and blue white on the other. Most likely the smokey part was resting on the bottom for a long period of time picking up sediment. The striations are caused from a continued process of rolling over and wave erosion.