A well-known folk wisdom says: "It is good to love the sea from the shore." It is the same with icebergs: the ice mountains are best observed from afar. For example, from an airplane. You look through the window and see icebergs drifting in the ocean like giant snow-white caps of whipped cream in black coffee. Sheer delight and no horror. But everything changes when you transfer from an airliner to a ship …
SUPPLIERS OF ICE MOUNTAINS
Antarctica is the main supplier of icebergs for the Pacific and South Atlantic. Namely, the Ross Ice Shelf. In any case, this giant, slightly smaller than Turkmenistan, has the highest productivity. In total, about a hundred thousand ice mountains and slides leave the coast of Antarctica every year, each of which can present an unpleasant surprise to passing ships.
The largest of the icebergs was found in the Southern Ocean in the mid-1950s: on the surface of a giant "refrigerator" with an area of 10,915 square meters. km could easily accommodate the Republic of Kosovo.
The second supplier of icebergs is Greenland, encased in an ice shell. The upper layers of ice covering the island move from the center to the edges at a speed of 20-40 m / day. As a result, every month the Green Country launches up to a thousand 100-meter fragments. They are not always snow-white, there are green, yellow and even black icebergs: this is how the settled volcanic dust decorates them.
Another miracle of nature is the "singing" icebergs: water washes several through holes in them, and the wind plays with inspiration on this powerful organ. Such icebergs are short-lived. Drifting, they collide with each other, for a moment they hide under water, after which huge debris appears on the surface. When one of them, having lost balance, turns over, a high wave rises. And woe to the ship that is nearby …
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VICTIMS OF SEA TRAVELERS
Ocean icebergs cannot be called street children: the largest representatives are constantly looked after from the sea, from the sky, and even from space! Some are equipped with radio beacons, others are painted with bright orange paint. Icebergs are classified, some even honor proper names.
The trouble is that the dimensions of the underwater part of the ice mountain, as a rule, significantly exceed the visible dimensions of its top. Approximately 80% of the total mass is hidden from view. And an iceberg, which looks small from the outside, may well be surrounded by a powerful ice belt under water, protruding up to 500 m forward.
It is this "cute feature" that makes sea bums extremely dangerous to ships. Therefore, the rules of navigation require you to stay as far away from the ice mountains encountered! The difficulty lies in the fact that the detection range of icebergs by ship locators lies within 14-30 miles. And some "slides", "descending" to the water at a slight angle, can sometimes be detected only from a distance of 3 miles. Then, in order to avoid a collision with an underwater ram, there is only one thing to do: move at the lowest speed with the sonar on and hope for a miracle!
In 1913, after the tragedy of the Titanic in the North Atlantic, the International Ice Patrol was created to track the movement of the ice mountains and alert ships plying between Europe and the New World. Every year, this much needed service identifies up to 400 ice giants wandering in the ocean. But, despite all the measures and precautions taken, it has not yet been possible to completely avoid catastrophes related to icebergs. Unfortunately, the Titanic was not their last victim. In December 1928, in the waters of the South Atlantic, one of the world's largest sailing ships, the Danish five-masted brig Copenhagen, died along with the entire crew after a collision with an ice mountain. Thirty years later, the Danes again suffered misfortune: their ship "Hans Headkoff" crashed into an icy mountain in the fog and sank. People died again.
There is another nuisance that icebergs bring: at shallow depths, they cling to and destroy underwater pipelines or cable lines. But, compared to human casualties, these are, of course, trifles …
REQUIRING THIRST
In the 20th century, the rate of growth in water consumption has broken all records. In many parts of the world, people began to feel the lack of water. Probably, the day is not far off when it will surpass energy resources in terms of its deficit. Already today, residents of 39 countries of the world drink water coming to them from abroad. Among these states are Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Croatia, Moldova and many others. The UN in its report "Human Development Program" notes that more than 500 million Chinese, as well as at least 100 million people in Africa, already live in conditions of lack of water. “Lack of water threatens the economic and social development of mankind and can cause armed conflicts,” said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Scientists are calling for the rational use of water and at the same time actively looking for sources of its replenishment. Some of them see a way out in the widespread use of desalinated sea water. The rich monarchies of the Persian Gulf have done this for a long time. Back in 1972, the Soviet Union commissioned the world's first atomic-powered desalination plant. It was built on the shores of the Caspian Sea in the city of Shevchenko, now the Kazakh city of Aktau. Yes, people have learned to desalinate salt water long ago, but this process is very energy-intensive and not available to every country.however, this process is very energy-intensive and not accessible to every country.however, this process is very energy-intensive and not accessible to every country.
And then scientists remembered about icebergs, which from time immemorial have caused people some trouble. Here they are - innumerable supplies of free fresh water! Moreover, the water is of much better quality than desalinated water. Finally, these icy mountains should serve for the benefit of mankind! The eyes turned to the south - towards Antarctica, which has collected up to 80% of the world's water reserves.
Yes, that's just where the water is, and where the countries thirsting for it. They are very far from each other. It is not realistic to lay a water pipeline across the oceans for many thousands of kilometers. To transport water from Antarctica by tankers is also the same: you can't get enough of tankers. And how can one turn millions of tons of ice into water in the Antarctic cold? But an iceberg - it is also fresh water, only in a solid state of aggregation, moreover, it floats on its own, however, completely spontaneously. It turns out that all that remains is to direct it in the right direction!
The idea of using icebergs is not so new - it was expressed more than a hundred years ago. But then the task was not so much not impossible as not relevant: there was enough water for everyone. True, in Chile, small Antarctic icebergs were delivered to the port of Valparaiso in the second half of the 19th century. They were used to obtain fresh water, and most importantly - as refrigerators for breweries! By the way, looking ahead, let's say that Canadians were not satisfied with beer alone. We went even further, and for 20 years they have been producing high-quality vodka “Canadian Iceberg Vodka” on the basis of iceberg melt water.
In the mid-1950s, American oceanographer John Isaacs proposed bringing icebergs from the Antarctic seas to Southern California using ocean currents and tugs to correct movement.
And in 1970-1980, scientists from France and Saudi Arabia joined the study of icebergs as potential reservoirs of fresh water. Their project was called Ice Dream - "Ice dream". Using computer simulations, they calculated that an iceberg weighing 7 million tons would be transported from North America to the Canary Islands in 141 days. On the way, it will almost half melt, but the "remnant" that arrives at the shore will be able to provide water to 35,000 people for a whole year.
In 2006, the invention “Method for towing an iceberg” was registered in Russia. But there is no information about its practical implementation yet …
Time will tell how realistic and productive the use of icebergs in the field of water supply and refrigeration will be. In the meantime, special services "intercept" dangerous icebergs and tow them away from sea routes and drilling platforms, saving the latter from destruction.
Anatoly BUROVTSEV, Konstantin RISHES