Blue Iceberg, Rødefjord, Northeast Greenland National Park
The ice in glaciers has been under enormous pressure for eons. The compression eliminates air and reflective surfaces within the ice. Some glaciers are very old, while some are younger. Icebergs that come from young glaciers have not undergone as much compression. Therefore, there is still a great deal of air and reflective surfaces within the iceberg. The iceberg reflects back much of the light that hits it as white light. Icebergs from older glaciers have little internal air or reflective surfaces. So when light hits the iceberg, it no longer bounces off. Instead, the light is absorbed. As in water, the longer (red or green) visible wavelengths of light are absorbed, so the light leaving the ice will be blue or blue-green. This is what makes an iceberg “blue.” It is simply capturing the Sun’s emitted light and allowing only the high-energy blue wavelengths to escape.
Year: 2014
From album: Northeast Greenland National Park
Photographer: Peter Prokosch