feet in a year. Another station moved half a mile south. The ice cap is alive and kicking. It has a mind of its own.’
Roger looked off to the north-east. ‘Do those black clouds mean it’s going to snow or rain?’
‘Those are not clouds,’ said Pete. ‘They are mountains. They’re called the Watkin Mountains. They are 12,200 feet high. And the mine I am going to see is bored right into the side of one of them. I’ll take you to the iceberg area and leave you there while I go on to the mine. I’ll be there two or three days, then come back and pick you up.’
‘That’s all right with us,’ said Hal. ‘We have a tent and our sleeping bags, and provisions.’
As they neared the east coast they could see the ocean covered with icebergs. Hal remembered how a mighty iceberg such as these had sunk the great ship Titanic in 1912. It was the largest ship in the world and it was making its first voyage. Its captain believed in speed, he couldn’t wait for anything, because he wanted to break the trans-Atlantic record. The sea was very calm and the night was clear and cold. The captain knew there were icebergs ahead but ^be depended upon a sharp lookout rather than reducing speed.
The lookout wasn’t sharp enough. Faster than any ship afloat at that time, the Titanic ploughed head-on into an iceberg which split the ship open as if it had been a walnut. Water rushed in and the ship began to sink. Down to their death went 1,500 passengers.
Perhaps the captain had thought that his mighty ship could plough right through any iceberg. He was sadly mistaken. The berg was just chipped a little, while the ironbound ship became in one moment a pile of junk.
The captain was severely criticized for his carelessness but that did not bring 1,500 people back to life.
Another careless fellow was the captain of the ship Californian, which was only ten miles away but did not respond to the distress signal and simply went on its way without offering any help to the sinking ship and people.
Looking down from the helicopter the boys could see rivers on their way to the ocean. These were not rivers of water but rivers of ice.
‘Those glaciers are very deep,’ Pete said. ‘Some of them almost a thousand feet from top to bottom. One is seven hundred miles long —the longest in the world. Of course being solid ice, they move very slowly, about a hundred feet in a year. But they finally get to the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea. They don’t stop there. Pushed from behind, the glacier keeps going right on into the air. It may ooze out anywhere from a hundred to five hundred feet. But it has nothing to hold it up, so finally, with a terrific crash, it falls three hundred feet to the sea. And that means a new iceberg.’
Roger was excited. ‘I want to see that.’
‘You’ll see it. And you’ll hear it —the cracking and groaning and thundering of the glacier and the terrible crash when it falls into the water throwing up fountains in every direction.’
‘And that’s what they call calving,’ said Hal.
‘Yes,’ said Pete. ‘It’s a strange way to describe it, but it means that just as a cow gives birth to a calf so the glacier gives birth to an iceberg. I must say an iceberg is a mighty big calf.’
Pete couldn’t land his helicopter where he wanted to. The 100-mile-an-hour wind so common on this coast blew the helicopter out over the sea and a wind current carried it down almost to the water. Pete worked hard to get his machine up again into the air.
He circled a couple of icebergs, always in danger of striking one, and finally got the flying machine up above the cliff. There he brought it to a wobbly landing.
Hal and Roger piled out with their tent, sleeping bags and provisions.
‘Good luck,’ cried Pete, as he turned his plane to the north and took off for the mine.
Roger shivered. ‘What makes it so awfully cold here? It’s much colder than it was on the other coast and that was cold
Roger looked off to the north-east. ‘Do those black clouds mean it’s going to snow or rain?’
‘Those are not clouds,’ said Pete. ‘They are mountains. They’re called the Watkin Mountains. They are 12,200 feet high. And the mine I am going to see is bored right into the side of one of them. I’ll take you to the iceberg area and leave you there while I go on to the mine. I’ll be there two or three days, then come back and pick you up.’
‘That’s all right with us,’ said Hal. ‘We have a tent and our sleeping bags, and provisions.’
As they neared the east coast they could see the ocean covered with icebergs. Hal remembered how a mighty iceberg such as these had sunk the great ship Titanic in 1912. It was the largest ship in the world and it was making its first voyage. Its captain believed in speed, he couldn’t wait for anything, because he wanted to break the trans-Atlantic record. The sea was very calm and the night was clear and cold. The captain knew there were icebergs ahead but ^be depended upon a sharp lookout rather than reducing speed.
The lookout wasn’t sharp enough. Faster than any ship afloat at that time, the Titanic ploughed head-on into an iceberg which split the ship open as if it had been a walnut. Water rushed in and the ship began to sink. Down to their death went 1,500 passengers.
Perhaps the captain had thought that his mighty ship could plough right through any iceberg. He was sadly mistaken. The berg was just chipped a little, while the ironbound ship became in one moment a pile of junk.
The captain was severely criticized for his carelessness but that did not bring 1,500 people back to life.
Another careless fellow was the captain of the ship Californian, which was only ten miles away but did not respond to the distress signal and simply went on its way without offering any help to the sinking ship and people.
Looking down from the helicopter the boys could see rivers on their way to the ocean. These were not rivers of water but rivers of ice.
‘Those glaciers are very deep,’ Pete said. ‘Some of them almost a thousand feet from top to bottom. One is seven hundred miles long —the longest in the world. Of course being solid ice, they move very slowly, about a hundred feet in a year. But they finally get to the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea. They don’t stop there. Pushed from behind, the glacier keeps going right on into the air. It may ooze out anywhere from a hundred to five hundred feet. But it has nothing to hold it up, so finally, with a terrific crash, it falls three hundred feet to the sea. And that means a new iceberg.’
Roger was excited. ‘I want to see that.’
‘You’ll see it. And you’ll hear it —the cracking and groaning and thundering of the glacier and the terrible crash when it falls into the water throwing up fountains in every direction.’
‘And that’s what they call calving,’ said Hal.
‘Yes,’ said Pete. ‘It’s a strange way to describe it, but it means that just as a cow gives birth to a calf so the glacier gives birth to an iceberg. I must say an iceberg is a mighty big calf.’
Pete couldn’t land his helicopter where he wanted to. The 100-mile-an-hour wind so common on this coast blew the helicopter out over the sea and a wind current carried it down almost to the water. Pete worked hard to get his machine up again into the air.
He circled a couple of icebergs, always in danger of striking one, and finally got the flying machine up above the cliff. There he brought it to a wobbly landing.
Hal and Roger piled out with their tent, sleeping bags and provisions.
‘Good luck,’ cried Pete, as he turned his plane to the north and took off for the mine.
Roger shivered. ‘What makes it so awfully cold here? It’s much colder than it was on the other coast and that was cold
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