The Titanic as she leaves the Irish port of Queenstown on 11 April 1912. Because of the systematic observations of icebergs at the time (even before the Ice Patrol was established), it is even very likely, according to Bigg and Wilton, that the later fatal iceberg was sighted in the process. This would have travelled west towards Canada and been transported south by the Labrador Current – along the Canadian coast including Newfoundland, the so-called Iceberg Alley. The warm and wet year 1908 created the conditions for a huge iceberg to calve in the early autumn of 1911 near southwest Greenland. In 1912, more icebergs were sighted than on average in the 20th century, but it was not an extreme iceberg year. To do this, they assumed that icebergs at that time originated mainly in the south or southwest of Greenland, whereas today they originate more from the northwest of the island. The Titanic's route across the North Atlantic, with location of the wreckįor their part, Bigg and Wilton have tried to show a possible path of the fatal iceberg with the help of computer simulations. When it comes to calving, they tend to think of factors like the water surface temperature of the Labrador Sea. There was also increased iceberg formation in other years. A few days around 4 January would not have had much influence on calving in winter, moreover, many fjords were blocked by sea ice. īigg and Wilton doubt that the constellation of moon, earth and sun in question was significant. But the spring tide may have played a role in refloating a stranded iceberg. ![]() However, such an iceberg would hardly have reached the site of the Titanic disaster in April of the same year. This could have had an influence on the calving of icebergs. On 4 January 1912, there was a spring tide at the same time that the moon was closer to the earth than usual. The authors also address the question of whether a certain constellation of the sun, earth and moon may have had an influence. There it melts, or it comes free again and continues its journey south. An iceberg can, for example, be washed up on the coast or run aground. It may have formed in 1910 or 1911 and could have drifted north with the West Greenland Current into Baffin Bay, from where it would have drifted south again thanks to the Labrador Current. Olson, Doescher and Sinnott suspect the origin of the fatal iceberg in the Jakobshavn Glacier near Disko Bay on Greenland's west coast. It can only be speculated where and when the Titanic iceberg calved from its glacier. Origin and fate Greenland with the Jakobshavn Glacier (white oblong area at the bottom of the picture) It will probably never be possible to prove that the fatal iceberg can be seen in one of these photographs. Ships have taken photographs of icebergs near the spot where Titanic's lifeboats were found. There is also historical data on the weather and currents in the North Atlantic that may help to shed light on the disaster. The most important sources for the iceberg are reports from surviving crew members and passengers of the Titanic. It appears in poetry as well as in pop culture. The iceberg has become a metaphor in various political and religious contexts. As the counterpart to the luxurious ship, it stands for the cold and silent force of nature that cost the lives of so many people. Because of the Titanic disaster, an International Ice Patrol was founded to reduce the dangers of ice to shipping.īut the fatal iceberg also plays a role in the cultural reception of the disaster. After the disaster, people became interested in the iceberg because they wanted to explain the circumstances of the collision and the resulting damage to the ship in more detail. ![]() Of the approximately 2200 people on board, over 1,500 did not survive the shipwreck. ![]() 'Iceberg' at the Titanic Museum in Branson, Missouri, whose building is modelled on the famous shipĪn iceberg and the passenger steamer Titanic collided on 14 April 1912, causing the ship to sink in two hours and forty minutes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |