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> They're always shown as tall and skinny, but that's ridiculous, they'd be unstable. I think icebergs are inherently unstable, that's why they're icebergs in
by jonknee 9y ago
> They're always shown as tall and skinny, but that's ridiculous, they'd be unstable.
I think icebergs are inherently unstable, that's why they're icebergs in the first place. They do also flip (see OP!). Tall skinny things are also not a bad way to go in the ocean, that's how some deep sea oil drilling platforms work[1]. Or something like the RP Flip[2].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spar_(platform) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spar_(platform)
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RP_FLIP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RP_FLIP
- tgb 9y agoThose things aren't at near-constant density, though. And although the article shows that icebergs do flip, the fact that the Smithsonian wrote an excited piece about it suggests that it doesn't happen too frequently. And it sounds like that happens because pieces break off or melt. The examples in the image search aren't just kinda unstable; they're completely implausible.