Icebergs

Source 1: The Secret of How the Titanic Sank

By: Justin Ewers

Researcher: Alison Ward

Revised by: Sebastian Escajadillo

Abstract

Decades after the sinking of the RMS Titanic, a ship for years deemed as unsinkable, there seems to be little doubt for what caused it’s sinking. Immediately after the disaster, two government investigations are conducted that state the iceberg was the main factor to the Titanic’s fall. Yet even after this, many questions are at hand, brought back into public eye. After Robert Ballard found it sunk in two, leaving two main questions at hand for experts: Was the ship just weak? Or the icy terror that lead to its demise?

Notable Quotations

“Two government investigations conducted immediately after the disaster agreed it was the iceberg, not any weakness in the ship itself, that caused the Titanic to sink,” - (Ewers paragraph 2).

“In 1985, when oceanographer Robert Ballard, after years of searching, finally located the ship's remains 2.5 miles down on the ocean bottom, he discovered that it had, in fact, broken in two on the surface before sinking,” - (Ewers paragraph 3).

"As the ice bumped along its starboard side, it punched holes in the ship's steel plates, flooding six compartments. In a little over two hours, the Titanic filled with water and sank," - (Ewers paragraph 6).

Source 3: “What Happened to the Iceberg That Sank the Titanic?”

By: Alasdair Wilkins

Researcher: Zach Fuentes

Revised by: Elizabeth Corrigan & Victor Escajadillo

Abstract

Two pieces of photographic evidence is shown of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, possibly the only known proof of how it appeared. First was taken by chief Steward of the SS Prinz Adalbert and second was taken by captain De Carteret of the Minia. This iceberg would begin its slow journey around the west coast of Greenland over three-thousand years back. The frozen water inside forced the iceberg to slowly move westward toward the sea making its way to the same path of the Titanic and infamy to come years later.

Notable Quotations

“At the time, the chief steward hadn't yet learned of the Titanic's fate, so he wasn't even on the lookout for icebergs. He simply spotted a streak of red paint along the iceberg's base, which most likely meant a ship had collided with it in the last 12 hours,” - (Wilkins paragraph 3).

"The Titanic iceberg was one of the lucky ones, so to speak, as the vast, vast majority of icebergs melt long before they reach that far south," - (Wilkins paragraph 9)

“But such temperatures are far too warm to sustain icebergs for very long. The average life expectancy of an iceberg in the North Atlantic is only about two to three years from calving to melting," - (Wilkins paragraph 11).

Source 5: Iceberg that Sunk the Titanic was 100,000 Years Old

By: Tom Wyke

Researcher: Aidan Avena

Revised by: Lucero Jimenez

Abstract

The iceberg was formed over 100,000 years ago. Scientist have found out that the iceberg was formed in a glacier in Greenland. Scientists traced the iceberg’s path and they have an idea of where the iceberg and Titanic met. Over the years, this iceberg has gotten bigger and bigger. Scientists think that the iceberg was 400 feet in length and 1.5 tonnes in mass. All these facts helped scientist collect their information after all these years. What caused so much damage to the Titanic was really the size of the iceberg. If it was smaller, it would have done less damage.

Notable Quotations

“When the Titanic smashed into the side of the iceberg in 1912, the iceberg is thought to have measured 400 feet in length, with a mass of 1.5 m tones,” - (Wyke paragraph 4).

"The staggering size of the lump of ice, thought to have been 100ft above the water, may have been 1,700ft long when it first formed," - (Wyke paragraph 5).

"Scientists believe that the huge iceberg is likely to have drifted from the Qassimiut on the southwest coast of Greenland," - (Wyke paragraph 6).

Source 7: Secrets Of Iceberg That Sank The Titanic Revealed In New Study

By: Macrina Cooper-White

Researcher: Amelie Tangtam

Revised by: Willow Prediletto

Abstract

A struggle for answers, the Titanic leaves no clues behind. Which iceberg sunk the Titanic? Is that iceberg still existent? No one knows. But new studies prove otherwise. As researchers start to dig deeper into this tragedy, they have examined not only the believed iceberg that might’ve sunk the Titanic, but also where icebergs near that area came from, how the weather was like, and so many other components.

Notable Quotations

"In 1912, the researchers found, 1,038 icebergs crossed that line," - (Cooper-White paragraph 5).

"'The weather conditions in the days around the collision favored movement of ice and icebergs further south than normal, but again not to unprecedented latitudes,' Bigg said in the email," - (Cooper-White paragraph 7).

"In taking a closer look at the trajectories of icebergs in 1912, Bing and his colleague noticed one iceberg that stood out: one that calved from a glacier in southwest Greenland in 1911 and passed closest to the site at which Titanic went down," - (Bigg paragraph 8)