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Re: [Phys-L] Iceberg melting and sea level rise



Density of salt water varies between 1020 to 1029 kg/m^3
Its volume is 0.9804 to 0.9718 m^3/kkg
Density of ice is 916.7 kg/m^3
Its volume is 1.091 m^3/kkg
Density of fresh water near freezing is 999.87 kg/m^3
Its volume is 1.0001 m^3/kkg

So glacier melt adds about +1m^3 of volume per melt- tonne to the ocean, but
iceberg melt adds about +0.11 m^3 of volume per melt-tonne.
It seems one effect is about nine times as great as the other...

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

On 3/22/2014 5:04 AM, Savinainen Antti wrote:
Hi,

John C. stated a that "But iceberg melting does not contribute to sea level rise.". Here is a link to a paper which challenges this idea:
<http://scitation.aip.org/content/aapt/journal/tpt/48/5/10.1119/1.3393068>

A short excerpt from the abstract:

":..the sea level will rise. The analysis shows the wrong conventional answer [such as the statement above] is due to the wrong assumption that water from a melted iceberg has the same density as seawater."

The argument seems convincing and the demonstration does work. Any counter-arguments?

Cheers,

Antti Savinainen, PhD
Finland