Image

Implosion!

August 29, 2014

To investigate the flow of meltwater from glaciers into the ocean, a research team led by WHOI oceanographer Fiamma Straneo installed a mooring in the Sermilik Fjord in Greenland. The mooring included instruments arrayed on a line, all held taut by a yellow float at the top. Because they would be in the path of icebergs calving off the glacier, the mooring was designed to be pushed out of the way by passing ice and to then float back up. In this case, however, a huge iceberg pushed the float to depths where the water pressure caused it to implode. Nevertheless, the team was able to retrieve the mooring and its valuable data. (Photo by Fiamma Straneo, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)