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LIMA
Challenge
Fall 2008 NASA Quest Challenge!
Proposal from:
From the CfBT Brunei Lower Secondary.
Teacher – Simon Gleeson
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Feature
- We are still finalising our chosen feature,
but we are interested in Icebergs, how they are formed, what
influences are acting on icebergs as there life progresses (could
they die?), which could lead into what effect does icebergs have
on the environment around them.
Location
Icebergs can be found in many locations in and around Antarctica, moving and
fixed. We have not yet chosen a specific Iceberg, but may tend towards the areas
of Antarctica where large icebergs are formed, the ice selves of Ross (-81.5
Lat -175 Lon), Ronne (-78.5 Lat -61 Lon) and Filchner (-79 Lat -40 Lon).
Processes
- What creates Icebergs? As temperatures rise,
ice near the edges of Antarctica melt, and at times giant pieces
fall off into the water creating icebergs.
- What reduces the number of Icebergs? As temperatures
rise, the icebergs melt always into the sea.
- What moves the Icebergs? Icebergs float on the
sea and get carried away by the ocean currents.
Why investigate this?
- Melting ice from Antarctica affects sea level,
as ice melts, so does the sea level rise. If the sea level rises,
the country where we live will be affected.
- To see if the number of bergs have changed.
- If the number of icebergs has increased
it could mean that more pieces are falling off Antarctica and
temperature is rising.
- If the number of icebergs are decreasing
it could be due to melting of existing icebergs.
- If the icebergs are melting, is this faster
than usual? Will this cause sea level rise?
- If more pieces are falling off, are these
larger than usual?
- Icebergs are a hazard: ships could sink, they
can create large waves.
- Icebergs could good for the environment around
Antarctica.
- Icebergs could be linked to global warming and
sea level rise.
- It is easier to see how everything works in
an iceberg than it would be to the how all of Antarctica works. In
relation to global warming, and sea level rise.
- If icebergs are bad, can we stop pieces falling
off to make icebergs? If the are good can we control the making to
icebergs like controlled burning to prevent a forest fire?
Our team still needs to investigate further
- The process creating icebergs
- The process acting on icebergs
- The types of icebergs
- Where are they located
- Can you count the number of icebergs, how many?
- How/do icebergs effect Antarctica
- Does melting icebergs effect sea level rise?
- Can icebergs be studied safely/easily or should
we study collapsing ice shelves?
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