Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Beware of Sopranos!

James McElroy writes: "Did you catch this?"
Alaskan storm cracks giant iceberg to pieces in faraway Antarctica: Study tracks surprising connection between distant events
James adds: "I especially like the simile expressed in the following":
Tiny ocean swells may seem too small to break an iceberg, but the crew of Captain Cook’s Endeavour knew well their hazards. The Endeavour ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef near Australia on a calm night in 1770. "But there was just enough swell to pick up the Endeavour and pound it relentlessly against the coral heads," MacAyeal said. Until his crew lightened the ship, Cook feared it would be pounded to smithereens.

And just like the Endeavour, the iceberg had run aground near Cape Adare and the Possession Islands in Antarctica before the swell hit. "We think that B15A was in the right position where these waves would be fatal to it," MacAyeal said. "The iceberg shattered like a gracile wine glass being sung to by a heavy soprano."
Beware of sopranos! - Jim McElroy

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