How are icebergs formed?

In fact, icebergs are the broken pieces of glaciers. The glaciers get broken into big pieces of ice by tides and sea waves when they (the glaciers) slide down from the mountains and valleys and reach the sea. These big pieces of ice are called icebergs. On the other hand, some glaciers look like mountains of ice as they do not break even after floating for long distances in the sea. The icebergs are of different sizes. The size of the smallest iceberg can be 5 to 6 meters in length and breadth, whereas the bigger iceberg might be hundreds of meters long.

Icebergs float in sea water because ice is lighter than water. One-tenth of the iceberg remains above water and the rest under water. For instance, if a 50 metre high iceberg is seen above water, then it means that 450 meters will be under water. There are huge amounts of snow in these icebergs. The icebergs are moved by the sea waves. They do not move on their own due to their huge weight. Icebergs are very dangerous for ships. A collision of a ship with them causes a shipwreck. Though icebergs can be detected by an instrument, yet mishaps take place infrequently. A ship named Titanic sank when it collided with an iceberg on 14th April 1912. This ship was sailing to New York, and 1513 passengers lost their lives in the disaster. Another ship named Hans Hedtoft was wrecked on January 30, 1959 when it collided with an iceberg in southern Greenland.