Happy Earth Day!

Picture O’ the Day: Rainbow Iceberg

From the Telegraph, via Digg: “Resembling a strange creature from the deep, this rare marbled iceberg was spotted in the waters of the Antarctic by a Norwegian sailor.”

So how’d it get that way?

While most icebergs are white due to tiny bubbles trapped inside, which scatter the light in every direction, some pick up a multitude of colours due to various natural phenomena.

Green stripes are the result of algae growing in the ice, while brown, black and yellow lines form as the ice sheets from which bergs are formed pick up layers of sediment.

Deep blue lines can also appear when the air bubbles are squeezed out due to rapid melting and re-freezing of the ice.