Iceberg That Sank Titanic Was 1,00,000 Years Old

 

March 09, 2016: Researchers from U.K’s Sheffield University have revealed that the giant iceberg that let to sinking the Titanic on April 14, 1912, on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City, was 1,00,000 years old and might have its origination in Southwest Greenland.

They analyzed observations from 1912, the year of Titanic’s sinking ship and also collected recent data on winds and ocean currents, after which they came to this conclusion. Lead scientist Grant Bigg used the computer model which helps in calculating the path of icebergs in any given year.

He added that they took what they knew about ocean currents, then added meteorological readings from that year after which the prevailing winds were calculated.

The researchers further added that this Titanic was around 400 feet in length and resulted in deaths of around 1547 people.

The iceberg was seen melting into the water for months before this incident. As per Mr.Bigg, it was 75m tonnes in weight and 1700 feet long. His research suggests that 1912 was a bad year and icebergs were seen floating towards the south, than normal.

In his new book, ‘Iceberg’, Mr. Bigg wrote that the presence of extensive ice was reported before as well as after the condition.

Still it isn’t clear as to why the number reaching shipping lanes has so much variation from year to year.  It might be due to various factors namely temperature changes, sea currents and direction of wind.

He states that one idea is that the iceberg was seen breaking from its glacier in the year 1908 when its melting was accelerated further and floated South during colder winter of 1911-1912.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner which sank in North Atlantic Ocean on April 14, 1912 after it collided with an iceberg during its voyage from Southampton to New York City.